This is a report on birth statistics gathered from the monthly submissions of civil registry documents by the Local Civil Registry Offices in the province of Biliran. All data presented herein are preliminary tabulations.

REGISTERED BIRTHS

During the 4th quarter of 2020 a total of 859 birth registrations was recorded in the province. Naval, the provincial capital, had the largest number of birth registrations at 456, followed by Caibiran and Cabucgayan with 117 and 90 births registration, respectively. 

Of the total, 556 (64.7 percent) were timely registrations. The municipality of Biliran had the highest proportion at 84.3 percent, followed by Culaba, at 78.3 percent. On the other hand, the municipality of Cabucgayan had the largest proportion of delayed registration of births recorded at 50.0 percent. 

Of the 556 timely registered live births, more than half (52.9 percent) were males, while females accounted for 47.1 percent. This translated to a provincial sex ratio at birth of 112 male infants for every 100 female infants.

The child’s legitimacy status at birth reveal that more than half were illegitimate children, or children conceived and born to unmarried parents. Based on the preliminary tabulations of the timely registered live births in the 4 th quarter of 2020, 61.0 percent were illegitimate. 

The municipality of Culaba had the highest proportion of illegitimate live births at 80.6 percent, followed by Biliran at 76.7 percent. The rest of the municipalities recorded a similar trend of higher fraction of illegitimate children than the legitimate children.

Age group 21-25 years old was the most reproductive for women. Approximately 25.0 percent of the timely registered births in the 4 th quarter of 2020 were from women within this age group. This was followed by the age groups 26-30 years old and 31-35years old with 24.8 and 19.4 percent share, respectively. The age group above 45 years was the least productive for women with zero registered birth. 

Meanwhile, most men become fathers at the age group 26-30 years old (28.1 percent). The age group with the smallest percentage of fathers are those below 18 years old, accounting only 0.6 percent.

Births were delivered by different types of attendants. Since majority of timely registrations were in hospitals, clinics and health institutions, most births were attended by midwives (58.1 percent) and physicians (36.3 percent). 

The municipalities of Cabucgayan, Kawayan, and Maripipi recorded the highest midwives attended births at 100 percent. On the other hand, the highest proportion of live births attended by physicians was recorded in Naval at 67.6 percent.

TECHNICAL NOTES 

Vital statistics are derived from information obtained at the time when the occurrences of vital events and their characteristics are inscribed in a civil register. 

Vital acts and events are the births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and all such events that have something to do with an individual's entrance and departure from life together with the changes in civil status that may occur to a person during his lifetime. Recording of these events in the civil register is known as vital or civil registration and the resulting documents are called vital records. 

Live Birth - is a complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached; each product of such a birth is considered liveborn. 

Period when to report the event 

• Live births shall be reported for registration to C/MCR not later than thirty (30) days from the date of birth.

SGD. RENAVIL V. CUEVA 
Chief Statistical Specialist