Dear Atty. Duran-Schulze,
Hi, I am a Filipino citizen that became an American Citizen a few years back. May I still re-acquire my Filipino Citizenship knowing that I am already a citizen of a foreign country (US)?
Dear Mona,
R.A. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003, Commonwealth Act No. 63 grants a former Filipino citizen to reacquire his Filipino citizenship. It is the policy of R.A. 9225 that all Philippine citizens who become citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship.
In the case of Calilung v. Datumanong, the Supreme Court held:
What Rep. Act No. 9225 does is allow dual citizenship to natural-born Filipino citizens who have lost Philippine citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country. On its face, it does not recognize dual allegiance. By swearing to the supreme authority of the Republic, the person implicitly renounces his foreign citizenship. Plainly, from Section 3, Rep. Act No. 9225 stayed clear of the problem of dual allegiance and shifted the burden of confronting the issue of whether or not there is dual allegiance to the concerned foreign country. What happens to the other citizenship was not made a concern of Rep. Act No. 9225.
||| (Calilung v. Datumanong, G.R. No. 160869, [May 11, 2007], 551 PHIL 110-119)
In addition, in the case of Jacot v. Dal:
Section 5 (2) of Republic Act No. 9225 compels natural-born Filipinos, who have been naturalized as citizens of a foreign country, but who reacquired or retained their Philippine citizenship (1) to take the oath of allegiance under Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9225, and (2) for those seeking elective public offices in the Philippines, to additionally execute a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign citizenship before an authorized public officer prior or simultaneous to the filing of their certificates of candidacy, to qualify as candidates in Philippine elections.
||| (Jacot v. Dal, G.R. No. 179848, [November 27, 2008], 592 PHIL 661-680)
Section 3. Retention of Philippine Citizenship – Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, natural-born citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country are hereby deemed to have re-acquire Philippine citizenship upon taking the following oath of allegiance to the Republic:
“I _____________________, solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, and obey the laws and legal orders promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Philippines; and I hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; and that I imposed this obligation upon myself voluntarily without mental reservation or purpose of evasion.”
Under BI Operations Order No. SBM-2014-051, for reacquisition or retention, the following requirements to apply under RA 9225 are needed:
(i) he is a former natural born Filipino; and
(ii) he lost his Philippine citizenship by reason of his naturalization as a citizen of a foreign country.
Petitioner for RA 9225 may include his child (as a derivative petitioner) who is:
- Below eighteen (18) years old; and
- Legitimate or illegitimate or adopted child;
Need further information and assistance? Talk to our Legal team at Duran & Duran-Schulze Law. Call us today at (+632) 8478 5826 or send an email to info@duranschulze.com for more information.