Article IV: CITIZENSHIP

WHAT IS YOUR CITIZENSHIP?

 CRYSTAL KAY WILLIAMS

• FATHER: African-American
• MOTHER: Korean
• CITIZENSHIP: Japanese
WHAT IS YOUR CITIZENSHIP?
 ZAYN MALIK

• FATHER: PAKISTANI
• MOTHER: IRISH
• CITIZENSHIP: BRITISH
 NATIONALITY vs. CITIZENSHIP
Nationality can be applied to the country where
an individual was born.

While,

Citizenship is a legal status, which means that

an individual has been registered with the
government in some country.
 NATIONALITY vs. CITIZENSHIP
An individual is a national of a particular
country by birth. Nationality is got through
inheritance from his parents or it be called a
natural phenomenon. On the other hand an
individual becomes a citizen of a country only
when he is accepted into that country’s political
framework through legal terms.
 Example:
Elaborating the two words, an individual born
in India, will be having Indian Nationality. But he
may have an American citizenship once he has
registered with that country.

No one will be able to change his nationality but

one can have different citizenship.
 Meaning of subject and alien
(1) A citizen is a member of a political/ democratic
community who enjoys full civil and political rights.
In a monarchial state, he is often called subject.
(2) An alien is a citizen of a country who is residing
in or passing through another country.
He/she is not given the full civil and political rights
but is entitled to receive protection as to his/her
person and property.
WHAT IS YOUR CITIZENSHIP?
 GRACE POE-LLAMANZARES
• NATURALIZED FILIPINO OR NATURAL-BORN FILIPINO CITIZEN?

According to CJ Maria Lourdes Sereno, Republic Act 8552 or the Act

Establishing Rules and Policies on Domestic Adoption of Filipino and
for other purposes, particularly Section 5, states that, “it shall be
the duty of the Department or child-caring agency, which has
custody of the child to locate the biological parents. If efforts fail,
the child shall be considered a foundling.”

In the PH, foundlings are covered by rules on adoption of Filipino

children.
 GRACE POE-LLAMANZARES
Under the law, foundlings are considered Filipinos
otherwise the courts cannot decree their
adoption.

But, the status of the child will remain as a

“naturalized filipino not natural-born” since the
parentage was not known.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/chief-justice-ph-adoption-laws-

recognize-foundlings-as-filipino-citizens
 Who are classified as Philippine
citizens?
• Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article IV,
Section 1, it states that:
Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
– Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution;
– Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the
Philippines;
– Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers,
who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of
majority; and
– Those who are naturalized in accordance of law
 What are the modes in acquiring
Philippine citizenship?
• There are two (2) generally recognized forms of
acquiring Philippine citizenship:

– Filipino by birth
• Jus soli (right of soil) which is the legal principle that
a person’s nationality at birth is determined by the
place of birth (e.g. the territory of a given state)
• Jus sanguinis (right of blood) which is the legal
principle that, at birth, an individual acquires the
nationality of his/her natural parent/s. The Philippine
adheres to this principle.
 What are the modes in acquiring
Philippine citizenship?

- Filipino by naturalization which is the judicial act of

adopting a foreigner and clothing him with the
privileges of a native-born citizen. It implies the
renunciation of a former nationality and the fact of
entrance into a similar relation towards a new body
politic.

- The Philippines follows Jus Sanguinis and

Naturalization.
Election of Citizenship under the 1987
Constitution:
Prior to the 1973 Constitution, if a Filipina
married an alien, she lost her Filipino
citizenship. Hence, her child would have to
elect Filipino citizenship upon reaching the age
of majority. Under the 1973 Constitution,
however, children born of Filipino mothers were
already considered Filipinos.
Election of Citizenship under the 1987
Constitution:
Therefore, the provision on election of
citizenship under the 1987 Constitution only
applies to those persons who were born under
the 1935 Constitution. In order for the
children to elect Filipino citizenship, the
mothers must have been Filipinos at the time
of their marriage.
Election of Citizenship under the 1987
Constitution:

• So, if your mother was a Filipina who married

an alien under the 1935 constitution and you
were born before January 17, 1973, you can
elect Filipino citizenship upon reaching the
age of majority.
 When the election must be made:
• The election must be made within a
reasonable period after reaching the age of
majority. (18 years old)
 Effects of naturalization:
1. The legitimate minor children of the
naturalized father become Filipinos as well.

2. The wife also becomes a Filipino citizen,

provided that she does not have any
disqualification which would bar her from
being naturalized.
 Natural-born citizens:
1. Citizens of the Philippines from birth who do
not need to perform any act to acquire or
perfect their Philippine citizenship.

2. Those who elect Philippine citizenship under

Art. IV, Sec. 1(3) of 1987 Constitution.
 Marriage of Filipino with an alien:
General Rule: The Filipino RETAINS Philippine
citizenship.

Exception: If, by their act or omission (deletion),

they are deemed, under the law, to
have renounced (give up) it.
 Examples of renunciation of
Philippine citizenship:
1. Voluntarily obtaining foreign passport.

2. Pledging allegiance to another country (ex.

by becoming a naturalized citizen of another
country).
 Re-acquisition of citizenship:
Natural-born Filipinos who are deemed to have
lost their citizenship may re-acquire the same
via repatriation (send back home) proceedings.

This involves taking an oath of allegiance and

filing the same with the civil registry/ Bureau of
Immigration.
 How may one lose citizenship:
1. By naturalization in a foreign country,
2. By express renunciation (denial) of citizenship,
3. By subscribing oath or allegiance to a foreign
Constitution,
4. By serving in the armed forces of an enemy country,
and
5. By being a deserter(traitor) of the armed forces of
one’s country.
 How may one reacquire citizenship:

1. By direct act of Congress

2. By naturalization
3. By repatriation
 Dual Allegiance of citizens
Section 5 prohibits more particularly naturalized
Filipinos from practicing what is called “Dual
Allegiance” which refers to the continued
allegiance of naturalized nationals to their
mother country even after they have acquired
Filipino citizenship.
It is declared inimical to national interest and shall
be dealt with by law.
 Dual Citizenship
• Note that what Section 5 prohibits is not dual
citizenship but dual allegiance.

Dual citizenship refers to the possession of two (2)

citizenships by an individual, that is his original
citizenship and that of the country where he/she
became a naturalized citizen.
 Duties and Obligations of Citizens
• To be loyal to the Republic,
• To love and defend the country,
• To contribute to the development and welfare of the
State,
• To uphold the Constitution and obey the laws,
• To cooperate to the duly constituted authorities,
• To exercise rights responsibly and with due regard for
the rights of others, and
• To register and vote.
If You're Born In The Sky, What's Your
Citizenship?

• Imagine you are very, very pregnant. For the

purposes of this mind game, you are a married
American woman (with an American spouse)
and you are about to board
a plane and, pregnant
as you are, they let you on.
If You're Born In The Sky, What's Your
Citizenship?
• Your flight, on Lufthansa Airlines, will leave
Frankfurt, Germany, and travel nonstop to the
Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. Germany is
cold, wet and unhappy-making,
and you crave the
aquamarine waters,
he balmy skies of the
Maldives.
If You're Born In The Sky, What's Your
Citizenship?
• You take off. Then, hours later, just as your plane
passes 37,000 feet above Karachi, Pakistan, heading
south, your baby, in an inconvenient act of
impetuosity, decides she wants to be born right then,
right there — and so in row 13, business class seat
13B, you give birth to a healthy, somewhat surprised
baby girl. The moment of birth happens as you are
directly above Pakistani territory. Karachi is passing
below as she emits her first cry. Everybody's fine —
you, the baby, the crew.
If You're Born In The Sky, What's Your
Citizenship?
If You're Born In The Sky, What's Your
Citizenship?
• Now comes my question. We've got an American
mom on a German airplane in Pakistani airspace.
What citizenship is the baby?
• Is he/she American? German? Pakistani? Maldivian?
Or some combination
of those? Baby's choice?
Mom's?
Pakistan's?
 "Who governs the air?"
• Most countries say their territory extends 43
miles up, some say 99. Everyone agrees there's
an upper limit, but legal theories differ.

One notion says when there's no longer enough

air in the atmosphere to lift a plane, that's
where outer (and shared) space begins.
 The Airborne Baby Question
• Whatever the reach of nations, most of the
Earth is covered by ocean, and nobody owns
the seas; so when travelling above the oceans,
you are geopolitically nowhere or everywhere.
There is, of course, a notion from admiralty law
that says if your ship is French, then while
onboard, you are legally in France.
 The Airborne Baby Question
• Which means, "that if your plane is registered in
Norway, even when you are in mid-Pacific,
flying between Fiji and Tahiti, you are still in
Norway and have to abide by Norwegian law."
And that gets to the Airborne Baby question:
This precept also suggests that babies born on planes
will sometimes be citizens of the country where the
plane is registered and sometimes take their parents'
citizenship.
 The Airborne Baby Question
• Apparently it depends. The national registry of
the airline matters. The nation you are born
over matters too. Some nations grant
citizenship to fly-by babies. Some don't.
 The Airborne Baby Question
• According to Alastair Bonnet, "If you are born
over the United States, in a foreign plane with
foreign parents, you can still
claim U.S. citizenship."
 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Republic Act 9225 known as Citizenship Retention and
Re-acquisition Act of 2003
• What is Republic Act No. 9225?
Republic Act No. 9225 is an Act making the citizenship of
Filipinos who acquire foreign citizenship permanent,
amending for the purpose Commonwealth Act No. 63.
– RA 9225, which took effect on 17 September 2003, declares
that former natural-born Filipino citizens who acquired
foreign citizenship through naturalization are deemed not to
have lost their Philippine citizenship under conditions
provided in the Act.
 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
• Does the law RA 9225 apply to dual citizens?

– RA 9225 does not apply to dual citizens, i.e., those

who have both Philippine citizenship as well as
foreign citizenship not acquired through
naturalization.
 In other words...
A child born of parents who are both Filipino
citizens (at the time of birth) in a country that
adheres to the jus soli principle (e.g., the United
States) is a dual citizen. The child, who is a
natural-born Filipino because the Philippines
adheres to the jus sanginis principle, is also
entitled to apply for a US passport.
 Reference:
De Leon, Hector. (2011). Textbook in Philippine
Constitution. Article IV: Citizenship. Rex Publishing

Political Law (Constitutional Law) Reviewer & Memory

Aid. (2001). Ateneo Central Bar Operations

Supplementary electronic sources.