Our Editorial Policy

How Nova Citizen writes, fact-checks, and updates the guides you read here. Last reviewed 2026-06-11.

Nova Citizen publishes plain-language safety, disaster, and government-services guides for every Filipino. Many of these guides cover topics where accuracy is not optional — emergency hotlines, evacuation steps, health warning signs, government applications. This page is a public commitment to how we work.

Who writes our guides

Guides are written and reviewed by the Nova Citizen Editorial team at Zentarai Labs (LFGTTM LLC). Our team combines product designers, engineers, and bilingual writers (English and Filipino). Every guide carries a "Last updated" date and a list of the official sources we verified against.

How we research

For every guide, we start with the primary official source — the Philippine agency that owns the topic — and only cite secondary sources when they directly reflect official guidance. We do not rely on rumors, viral social posts, or unsourced compilations. Our standard primary sources include:

Disasters & weather: PHIVOLCS, PAGASA, NDRRMC, BFP
Health: DOH, Philippine Red Cross
Benefits & social services: PhilHealth, SSS, Pag-IBIG, DSWD
Documents & IDs: PhilSys, PSA, DFA passport, LTO, NBI, PNP, BIR
Government portal: gov.ph

Our drafting process

Source first. A guide is not started until the relevant primary source is open in front of the writer.
Bilingual by design. Most guides are written in clear English with Tagalog key terms ("Lindol", "Ano ang gagawin?") so they're searchable and understandable in both languages.
AI as a drafting assistant, not the editor. We use AI tools to help draft and translate. Every claim — fees, hotline numbers, processing times, eligibility — is then verified against the official source named in the guide. The editorial team is responsible for what ships.
No fabrication. If we can't confirm a fact from an official source, we either omit it, mark it as variable ("may iba-iba kada barangay"), or link the user to the official portal.
Scam & fixer warnings. When an official process is commonly impersonated (NBI, DFA passport, 4Ps), we add an explicit warning identifying the only official site.

How we update guides

Fees, processes, and portals change. We:

Tag every guide with a "Last updated" date in its header.
Re-verify guides at least once per quarter and whenever a relevant policy changes (RA, DOH advisory, agency portal redesign).
Surface the official source link inline so readers can always check the current state themselves.

Corrections

If you spot an error, an outdated fee, or a broken official link, please email [email protected] with the guide URL and the issue. We aim to investigate within 3 business days. When we make a substantive correction, we update the "Last updated" date and note the change.

What Nova Citizen guides are not

Our guides are general information for Filipino citizens. They are not legal, medical, or financial advice. In any life-threatening emergency, call 911. For your specific case — diagnosis, eligibility decision, official ruling — always consult the agency named in the guide or a qualified professional.

About Nova Citizen and Zentarai Labs

Nova Citizen is the free citizen super app for the Philippines — real-time safety alerts, incident reporting, benefits, and jobs. It is built by Zentarai Labs (LFGTTM LLC), which also builds NovaGovAI, the AI operating system for government. Our company funding model is paid LGU dashboards — citizens never pay, so our editorial incentive is to be useful and trusted, not to monetize attention.