When a Former Filipino May Not Qualify for Dual Citizenship

Can a former Filipino citizen be disqualified from becoming a dual citizen under RA 9225?  Posible bang former Filipino citizen ka naman pero hindi ka qualified for dual citizenship?  

I have come across some questions about dual citizenship particularly asking why they were not allowed by the Philippine Consulate to apply for retention or re-acquisition of their Philippine citizenship under RA 9225. Bakit nga ba? Is it possible?

If you are a former Filipino citizen, do you automatically qualify for dual citizenship? For us to be able to answer that, kailangan nating balikan ang mga relevant provisions ng RA 9225.

Let us take a look at Section 2 of RA 9225.  It states that:

“SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State that all Philippine citizens who become citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship under the conditions of this Act.”

If you noticed it, sinasabi po ng batas na lahat ng Philippine citizens na naging citizens ng ibang bansa ang covered ng State Policy na ito.  It does not make any qualification.

Basta ang sinasabi po sa batas ay “all Philippine citizens”.  However, I would like you to take a look at the following section of the law.  Section 3 of RA 9225 provides that:

“SEC. 3. Retention of Philippine Citizenship. — Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, natural-born citizens of the Philippines who have lost their Philippine citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country are hereby deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon taking the following oath of allegiance…”

Under section 3, mapapansin po ninyo na may qualification na po. Hindi lang basta citizens of the Philippines ang deemed to have re-acquired their  Philippine citizenship, but the law says they must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines. That means, if you are a former Philippine citizen but not natural-born, you are not qualified for retention or re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship.

This brings us to the question: Sinu-sino ba ang natural-born citizens of the Philippines? And this question leads us back to the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Section 1, Article IV of the 1987 Constitution provides that:

“Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

[1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution; [2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines; [3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and cralaw [4] Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.”

Nakasaad naman po sa Section 2 na:

“Section 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.”

Applying these 2 provisions, ang mga sumusunod ay mga natural-born citizens of the Philippines:

Una, iyong mga citizens na ng Pilipinas noong adoption ng 1987 Constitution.

Ikalawa, iyong mga ipinanganak after ng 1973 Constitution, kahit isa lang sa mga magulang nila ay citizen ng Pilipinas; maaaring ito ay ang kanilang ama o ang kanilang ina.

Ikatlo, iyong mga ipinanganak bago  ang 1973 Constitution, meaning during the effectivity ng 1935 Constitution, at tanging ang ina lang nila ang citizen ng Pilipinas, habang ang ama nila ay citizen ng ibang bansa at pinili nila ang Philippine citizenship nung sila ay tumuntong na sa age of majority.  If they did not elect the Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority, they are not considered as citizens of the Philippines.

Medyo tricky po itong third type ng natural-born citizen of the Philippines dahil may instances po na buong buhay nila ay inakala nilang sila ay citizens ng Pilipinas without realizing na they were born before the 1973, of a Filipino mother and a father who is a foreign citizen and for one reason or another, they were not able to elect the Philippine citizenship when they reached the age of majority.  In that case, they are not considered as citizens of the Philippines. In other words, they are foreign citizens. That is the reason why they are not qualified to become dual citizens.

Now, let us proceed to the naturalized citizens.  I will just be stating what is obvious kapag sinabi ko na ang mga naturalized citizens ay hindi natural-born citizens of the Philippines.

At birth, they were citizens of another country, but they obtained the Philippine citizenship by naturalization.  It is very important to pay attention to this dahil may mga naturalized citizens ng Pilipinas noon, na subsequently ay naging naturalized citizen na rin ng ibang bansa. Consequently, they lost their Philippine citizenship.

The question is: Are they qualified to retain or to re-acquire their Philippine citizenship under RA 9225? The answer is no.  The reason being that RA 9225 permits the retention or re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship only to former natural-born citizens of the Philippines.  Hindi po sapat na basta former Filipino lang. Dapat natural-born citizen of the Philippines.

I hope that you have learned something from this article. Always remember, ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith. Ingat po kayo.