In 2024, 21,128 or 51.42 percent of the 41,090 registered births in Camarines Sur are illegitimate. This shows about eleven percent decrease from 2023, where 23,734 or 48.91 percent of the 48,528 registered births are illegitimate.
According to Article 165 of the Family Code of the Philippines, “children conceived and born outside a valid marriage are illegitimate.” Children born of couples who are not legally married, or of common-law marriages, and/or children born of couples below 18, whether they are married (which marriage is void) or not, are considered illegitimate.
From year 2015 to 2021, the number of illegitimate births is ontinuously increasing, from 46.96 percent in 2015 to 50.49 percent in 2021. Nevertheless, there is a sudden decrease in illegitimate births in 2022 with 47.97 percent but regaining its number in the succeeding years.
More than 230 thousand registered children in Camarines Sur from 2015 to 2024 were born out of wedlock.
The highest proportion of illegitimate births in 2024 was registered in Ocampo with 72.16 percent or 438 out of the 607 registered births, while the least was registered in the municipality of Gainza with 9.68 percent or 6 illegitimate births out of 62 registered births.
Other municipalities with highest proportion of illegitimate births are Buhi with 62.47 percent, and Tigaon with 60.93 percent. Meanwhile, the municipality of Milaor recorded the second lowest proportion of illegitimate birth at 14.94 percent, followed by the municipality of Lupi with 24.81 percent.
In 2015, 76.23 percent of the births recorded in Lupi are illegitimate. This is the highest percentage of proportion of illegitimate births recorded in the province from 2015 to 2024. Gainza, on the other hand, recorded the lowest percentage of proportion of illegitimate births with 6.90 percent in 2021.
Of the 35 municipalities and two cities in Camarines Sur, Naga City recorded the highest number of illegitimate births for 2024 with 7,751 or 36.69 percent of the total illegitimate births in the province, considering the presence of most hospitals in the city. This was followed by Iriga City with 1,047 illegitimate births or 4.96 percent to the total and Cabusao was third with 904 or 4.28 percent share.