ALTPROC: Correction of Personal Information (COPI)

Eligibles who have been found out to have discrepancy/ies in their personal information (particularly name, date of birth and place of birth) after initial or subsequent verification of their eligibility records shall be required to request for the Correction of Personal Information (COPI) before they be allowed to request for the issuance of a COE or its authenticated copies.

The requirements for executing a request for COPI is already enumerated at the back of the COPI form (downloadable HERE). Once you have all the documentary requirements, send the same to the CSC Regional Office V via postal mail, courier, or through the DropBox in the CSC RO V Field Office in your province. 

Once your request for COPI has been approved, you will receive a Resolution from the CSC Regional Office. It is only upon the issuance of said Resolution can an eligible with discrepancies in their exam records be issued a COE and/or its authenticated copies.

Here are some FAQs about COPI

Q: How do I get discrepancies in my eligibility record?

A: There are a couple of ways that can cause the discrepancy of an eligible's record. First, inadvertently providing incorrect personal information during eligibility/exam application. There have been a lot of cases wherein eligibles have been "using" a certain personal data known to them until recently, and are only made aware upon discovery that the personal data they are used to is not consistent with that indicated in their certificate of live birth.

Another is encoding errors. All information you have provided in the exam/eligibility application are encoded in a database. However, due to the sheer number of exam applicants, encoding errors are unavoidable. As such, examinees are given the chance to rectify any encoding errors in their personal information on exam day in the Examinee Attendance Sheet (EAS), as instructed by the Proctor and Room Examiner. Any erroneously encoded personal information that is not corrected by the examinee in the EAS during exam day becomes their permanent record with the CSC, unless the eligible undergoes the process of requesting for COPI.

Q: Will my eligibility be revoked if there are discrepancies?

A: No, your eligibility will not be revoked (unless it is a penalty under an administrative/criminal case). All you need to do is undergo the process of requesting a COPI.

 

Q: What is considered as a discrepancy in my exam / eligibility records?

A: The following are considered as discrepancies and subject to processing of COPI:

1. Any misspelling or discrepancy in your name, including the omission of middle initial, use of middle initial when there is none, omission of extension name (if any), and special characters such as Ñ (ex., if your surname is Nuñez, but our records have your surname as Nunez, then it is considered a discrepancy. Our printing systems are already capable of printing special characters such as Ñ since the 1980s.). 

Misspelling in names also include incorrect spacing (ex: De la Cruz vs. Dela Cruz, de los Santos vs. delos Santos, etc.)

2. Incorrect middle initial, especially for those with compound middle names. As a rule set by the PSA, the middle initial of individuals with compound middle names should be the first letter of the middle name (ex: Dela Cruz should be "D", and not "C" or "DC"). Further, this also applies to individuals with double-first-letter middle names (ex: middle names such as Llaneta, Lleva, Llarena, etc. should be "L" and not "Ll").

Your usage of middle initial should be consistent with all your documents, IDs, and even in the Picture Seat Plan, as indicated in number 5 below.

3. Incorrect date of birth (DOB), or DOB format. We use the MM/DD/YYYY date format as a standard practice in the Philippines. As such, should the MM/DD in your  DOB be interchanged, it is considered a discrepancy and subject for COPI. 

As an illustration, say your DOB is April 5, 1990. Based on our standard date format, your numerical DOB should be 04/05/1990. If your DOB is reflected as 05/04/1990, then it is considered a discrepancy.

4. Incorrect or incomplete location in your place of birth (POB). As a standard practice, the correct format  in indicating your POB is the municipality and province, or city. We also accept the POB as correct if only the province is indicated. 

Specific addresses such as house number, street name, sitio, purok, zone, subdivision/village and barangay is NOT necessary for the POB. 

As an illustration, if your POB in our records (and in the EAS) is "Guinobatan" and the province not indicated, then it is considered a discrepancy and subject for COPI. The POB should be "Guinobatan, Albay", or "Albay [province]". Further, if your POB is a city and the word "City" or its province is not indicated (ex. "Naga" only, and not "Naga City" or "Naga, Camarines Sur"), then it is considered a discrepancy.

5. Any incorrect data indicated in your Picture Seat Plan (PSP), including the omission of your middle initial and/or extension name (if any), or incorrect middle initial as indicated in number 2 above. As impossible as it may sound, there are still cases wherein examinees commit mistakes in writing their personal information in the PSP. The PSP is also a permanent record, and form part of the identity verification of the eligible, and as such, any incorrect information indicated therein is considered a discrepancy and subject for request for COPI.

Q: How long is the process of requesting for COPI?

A: Assuming you have submitted a complete and correct set of documentary requirements, it is processed within fifteen (15) working days upon receipt of the eligibility request from the Examination Services Division (ESD). You shall be informed by the Legal Services Division (who is in charge of processing requests for COPI) when you can expect the release of your Resolution.

An incomplete or incorrect set documentary requirements submitted can  cause for the DISAPPROVAL of your request. As such, you are advised to carefully read, understand and comply with the list of documentary requirements indicated at the back of the COPI form.

 

Q: Can I request for COPI from CSC Regional Office V even if I have taken the exam in another region?

A: No. Examination records are region-based. As such, you shall be required to file your request for COPI with the CSC Regional Office that has jurisdiction over your exam venue, or that which conferred your eligibility.

 

Q: What is NOT included in the request for COPI?

A: Change of name due to marriage for female eligibles is not considered as subject for COPI. If you have been conferred an eligibility when you were still single, the CSC shall continue to issue you a COE bearing your maiden name even if you are already currently using your married name. All personal information indicated in the COE will be issued as is stated in our Register of Eligibles. 

Also, a change of signature is not subject for COPI. Should your signature have changed from the time of exam, we shall only require that you be able to pen your signature as indicated in your entry in the PSP.

Lastly, as per current changes in the COPI policies, "MARIA" and the usage of its shortcut "MA" is not considered as a discrepancy.

For any further questions, you may email our Legal Services Division at cscro5legal@yahoo.com