Metro Manila, Philippines - FamilySearch executives, local officials, and heritage experts gathered last November in a roundtable discussion to explore ways to strengthen collaboration on record preservation and improve public access to historical and civil registry documents in the Philippines.
The VIP roundtable was led by FamilySearch International CEO Steve Rockwood and brought together officials from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, local civil registrars, archivists, historians, and genealogists.
The discussion centered on FamilySearch’s ongoing mandate to digitize records and support wider access to documents critical for tracing family roots, ancestry, and Philippine history.
FamilySearch International Senior VP Michael Colemere emphasized the importance of partnerships with local institutions, archives, and government offices, noting that long-term collaboration is essential to preserving records and making them accessible to families, researchers, and future generations.
Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also graced the event and addressed the distinguished guests at the roundtable.
“Whatever your faith may be, we believe that we are all brothers and sisters,” Elder Kearon said, emphasizing a shared commitment to strengthening family connections and honoring heritage. He dedicated his message to the experts and partners who continue to advance the mission of FamilySearch.
Elder Kearon also expressed his deep gratitude to the attendees for their meaningful contributions to preserving records and building the nation’s history.
“Let me express our love for you on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he said. “We pray that we can be good partners and good neighbors, and that we can form bonds that will last far beyond this moment we share today.”
Preserving Records Amid Disasters
One of the key concerns raised during the discussion was the vulnerability of physical records to fires, floods, and typhoons, particularly at the local government level.
Lucena Flores, National President of the Philippine Association of Civil Registrars and City Civil Registrar of Caloocan, underscored the urgency of digitization.
“It scares me every day if I will not have the hard copies anymore,” Flores said, referring to civil registry documents dating back to the early 1900s. “For some reason, calamities could be anything. We can have water damage, fire damage, and documents can be totally destroyed.”
Flores said FamilySearch has been a key partner in safeguarding records, especially after disasters. She cited Marikina City as an example, where document losses caused by flooding eventually led to modernization and digitization efforts with FamilySearch’s help.
“You have been standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder with local civil registrars,” she said. “And we thank you so much for that.”
Local Archives, Global Impact
The discussion also highlighted how locally preserved records can have global significance.
Teresita Ang See of the Kaisa Heritage Center shared how FamilySearch-supported microfilming of old newspapers helped a family locate records related to the wake of a prominent Chinese-Filipino patriarch.
Despite searching across China, the family eventually found the information in Intramuros through the center’s archives.
“They went all over China looking for sources of that information,” Ang See said. “Just to find that it was available here in our museum.”
Call for Centralized, User-Friendly Access
From a researcher’s perspective, genealogist and social media luminary Mona Magno-Veluz emphasized the challenges posed by fragmented records across thousands of local government units (LGU).
“For users, it would be very difficult to go into each and every LGU just to find the records we need,” she said, suggesting a province-based approach that brings together civil records, church records, books, and newspapers in one system.
Magno-Veluz also stressed the importance of designing databases with researchers in mind, noting that centralized and searchable platforms significantly improve access and discovery.
Balancing Access and Data Privacy
Another major topic was balancing data privacy regulations with the need for historical research. Several participants pointed out that while the Data Privacy Act is important, it should be harmonized with the Freedom of Information framework to allow access to older records of historical value.
“I believe the concerns on data privacy can be addressed,” Magno-Veluz said. “We also have a Freedom of Information Act, and we need to look at the spirit of that law.”
Toward Deeper Collaboration
Officials from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, universities, church archives, and local study centers echoed the call for stronger networks and sustained collaboration. Many identified FamilySearch as a model for democratizing access to historical records, particularly during the pandemic when physical archives were inaccessible.
Participants agreed that continued dialogue, shared technology, and cooperative digitization efforts could help protect fragile records while ensuring that Filipinos, researchers, and future generations can better understand their family histories and the nation’s past.
As the roundtable concluded, stakeholders expressed optimism that stronger partnerships between FamilySearch and Philippine institutions could lead to more resilient record preservation systems and broader access to the stories that shape Filipino identity.