Under Par.

3, Section 1, Article IV of the Constitution, if a person who born prior to January 17, 1973
of Filipino a mother, they are not yet a Filipino citizen because, upon reaching the age of majority,
they still needed to elect Philippine citizenship.

So 2 important points here. (1) What do we mean by the phrase, “withing reasonable time upon
reaching the age of majority?” Jurisprudence tells us this means within 3 years upon reaching the age
of majority. (2)How to elect Philippine citizenship? It entails executing an affidavit of election and
having that registered.

Then in the last paragraph of Section 1, Article IV, we have those who have been naturalized in
accordance with the law.

Now, we need to have a look at Section 2, Article IV as to who are considered as natural-born citizens,
where the first sentence states that the definition of a natural-born citizen is those that are citizens of
the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect Philippine
citizenship. If we look at this definition, then you will not consider persons who fall under Par. 3,
Section 1, Article IV as natural born Filipino citizens because this class or group of people still needed
to do something to acquire, or at the very least perfect Filipino citizenship because they still needed
to elect Filipino citizenship. This is why it’s important of adding the second sentence in Section 2,
Article IV, such that even if this group or class of people (under Par. 3, Section 1, Article IV) have to do
something or perform an act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship, they are still to be
considered as natural born citizens.

IMPORTANCE OF DEFINTION OF NATURAL-BORN CITIZENS

1. All constitutional offices are reserved only to natural-born citizens. (e.g. SC, legislative department).
2. Foreigners cannot acquire lands in the Philippines except those who acquire by way of succession
and those who were formerly natural-born Filipino citizens.

2ND MODE OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP: NATURALIZATION

Is this available to former Filipino citizens? YES, because naturalization is not only a mode of acquiring
citizenship but also a mode of REACQUIRING citizenship.

3 KINDS OF NATURALIZATION
1. Judicial
2. Administrative
3. Congressional

Judicial Naturalization
This requires an applicant to have all of the qualifications and none of the disqualifications. This can
really take time because you have to first declare your intent to be naturalized by filing that
declaration of intention in the office of the Solicitor General and then wait for 1 year (unless you fall
under the exceptions for the 1-year waiting time) before you can file your petition for naturalization
in the regional trial court.

It also takes time because you do not only have to prove that you have all of the qualifications but you
also have to prove that you have none of the disqualifications. For the list of the qualifications and
disqualifications, read Commonwealth Act 473.

Administrative Naturalization
Because Judicial Naturalization takes a really long time, a law was passed allowing Administrative
naturalization, RA 9139, which states that you can acquire Philippine citizenship instead through the
administrative route with the Special Committee on Naturalization which is composed of the Solicitor
General, Secretary of Foreign Affairs or his representative, and Secretary of National Security as the
members.
The nice thing about this process of naturalization is it does not take a long amount of time, plus, it’s
also cheaper. Here, all you have to do is file a petition before the special committee on naturalization
who will determine whether or not you have the qualifications and none of the disqualifications. Plus,
even if they determine that you have some of the disqualifications and you lack some of the
qualifications, they will still allow you to prove them wrong.

Once they determine that you have all of the qualifications and none of the disqualifications, you will
then be issued a certificate of naturalization. Once you have been issued this certificate, you can then
take your oath of allegiance. It’s cheaper because you will pay 100k as naturalization processing fee,
payable in several installments. 50k upon approval of your petition, 50k upon taking the oath of
allegiance and the issuance of the certificate of naturalization. However, this route is only available
for applicants who were born in the Philippines and have been residing here since birth. So it’s not
available to all foreigners.