Current
Philippine laws provide for three ways in order for aliens to become
naturalized citizens of the country: by Judicial, Administrative and
Congressional means.
- JUDICIAL MEANS
Commonwealth
Act No. 473 as amended provides the first way of acquiring Philippine
citizenship through judicial naturalization. The said law lays down
the qualifications/ disqualifications of applicants and the procedure
in order to be judicially declared a Philippine citizen.
Under
CA No. 473, applicants should possess the following requirements:
First, the applicant must be not less than twenty-one years of age on
the day of the hearing of the petition; second, he or she must have
resided in the Philippines for a continuous period of not less than
ten years; third, the applicant must be of good moral character and
believes in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution and
must have conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner
during the entire period of his residence in the Philippines in his
relation with the constituted government as well as with the
community in which he is living; fourth, the applicant must own real
estate in the Philippines worth not less than five thousand pesos,
Philippine currency, or must have some known lucrative trade,
profession, or lawful occupation; fifth, he or she must be able to
speak and write English or Spanish and any one of the principal
Philippine languages; and sixth, he or she must have enrolled his
minor children of school age, in any of the public schools or private
schools recognized by the government, where Philippine history,
government and civics are taught or prescribed as part of the school
curriculum, during the entire period of the residence in the
Philippines required of him prior to the hearing of his petition for
naturalization as Philippine citizen.
Individuals
who exhibit the following traits or characteristics are prohibited
from being naturalized under CA No. 473: a) those who are opposed to
organized government or affiliated with any association or group of
persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized
governments; b) those who defend or teach the necessity or propriety
of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the success and
predominance of their ideas; c) Polygamists or believers in the
practice of polygamy; d) Persons convicted of crimes involving moral
turpitude; e) those suffering from mental alienation or incurable
contagious diseases; f) those who, during the period of their
residence in the Philippines, have not mingled socially with the
Filipinos, or who have not evinced a sincere desire to learn and
embrace the customs, traditions, and ideals of the Filipinos; g)
citizens or subjects of nations with whom the Philippines is at war,
during the period of such war; and h) citizens or subjects of a
foreign country whose laws do not grant Filipinos the right to become
naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.
Naturalization
under CA No. 473 involves the intervention of a court of law that
will decide if the applicant should be granted naturalization. The
naturalization process begins with the applicant filing a declaration
of intent one year prior to the filing of a petition with the Office
of the Solicitor General exhibiting his or her intent to acquire
Philippine citizenship. Persons who were born in the Philippines and
have received their primary and secondary education in public schools
or those recognized by the Government and those who have resided
continuously in the Philippines for a period of thirty years or more
before filing their application and enrolled his or her children in
elementary and high schools recognized by the government and not
limited to any race or country, and the widow and minor children of
an alien who has declared his intention to become a citizen but dies
before naturalization are exempt from the filing of such a
declaration. The applicant shall then file his or her petition which
must be signed in his or her own handwriting and accompanied by an
affidavit of two credible citizens of the Philippines personally
known to the applicant with the court of the province in which the
same has resided at least one year immediately preceding the filing
of the petition. The petition shall be in triplicate, accompanied by
two photographs of the petitioner and must set forth the following
information: name and surname; present and former places of
residence; occupation; place and date of birth; civil status; the
name, age, birthplace and residence of the wife and of each of the
children; the approximate date of his or her arrival in the
Philippines; the name of the port of debarkation and the name of the
ship from which the applicant came. The petition shall also state the
names and post-office addresses of the applicant’s witnesses as the
petitioner may desire to introduce at the hearing of the case. The
certificate of arrival and the declaration of intention are required
to be part of the petition. The petition shall then be published for
once a week for three consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette and
in a newspaper of general circulation in the province where the
applicant resides. Furthermore, copies of the petition and the notice
of hearing shall be posted in the Office of the Clerk of Court or in
the building where the office is located. After this, the court shall
conduct a hearing regarding the petition wherein the applicant may
present witnesses and evidence proving that he or she is qualified to
become a naturalized citizen. After hearing, the court having
jurisdiction over the case shall promulgate a decision regarding the
application. During the entire duration of the proceedings, the
applicant shall be required to actually reside within the country.
After the lapse of two years, a hearing shall be conducted wherein
the applicant must prove that during his or her entire stay in the
country, he or she has not left the country, continuously engaged in
a lawful calling or profession, has not been convicted of any offense
and not committed any prejudicial act to the interest of the nation
or contrary to any announced policy. If successful, the applicant
shall be issued a Certificate of Naturalization and undergo oath
taking.
- ADMINISTRATIVE MEANS
Republic
Act No. 9139 (R.A. 9139) provides for the second mode of
naturalization. The said law allows an administrative procedure for
naturalization without judicial intervention. In contrast to CA No.
473, R.A. No. 9139 applies only to aliens who have been born within
the country and have never seen any other country and thought of
themselves as being Filipinos all their lives. The said Act lays down
the qualifications and disqualifications of applicants and the
procedure for naturalization. Except for the lower age requirement
and the need of having been born in the country, most of the
qualifications and disqualifications set by the law are similar to
those enumerated in CA No. 473.
The
process for administrative naturalization is set into motion when an
applicant files a petition with the Secretariat of the Special
Committee on Naturalization along with the processing fee of forty
thousand pesos (P40,000.00). The said petition should contain all of
the required information along with the following:
(a)
Duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s birth
certificate;
(b)
Duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s alien
certificate of registration and native born certificate of residence;
(c)
Duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s
marriage certified, if married, or the death certificate of his
spouse, if widowed, or the court decree annulling his marriage, if
such was the fact;
(d)
Duplicate original or certified photocopies of birth certificates,
alien certificate of registration or native born certificate of
residence if any, of petitioner’s minor children, wherever
applicable;
(e)
Affidavit of financial capacity by the petitioner, and sworn
statements on the good moral character of the petitioner by at least
two (2) Filipino citizens of good reputation in his/her place of
residence stating that they have personally known the petitioner for
at least a period of ten (10) years and that said petitioner has in
their own opinion all the qualifications necessary to become a
citizen of the Philippines and is not in any way disqualified under
the provisions of this Act;
(f)
A medical certificate that petitioner is not a user of prohibited
drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted
with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS);
(g)
School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner in the
schools he attended in the Philippines. Should the petitioner have
minor children, a certification that his children are enrolled in a
school where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and
are part of the curriculum; and
(h)
If gainfully employed, the income tax return for the past three (3)
years.
The
pertinent portions of the petition shall then be published once a
week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation and have copies of the petition posted in any public or
conspicuous area. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Bureau
of Immigration (BI), the civil registrar of the petitioner’s place
of residence and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) shall be
furnished with copies of the petition and its supporting documents.
These agencies shall have copies of the petition posted in any public
or conspicuous area in their buildings, offices and premises, and
shall, within thirty (30) days from the receipt of the petition,
submit to the Committee a report stating whether or not petitioner
has any derogatory record on file or any such relevant and material
information which might be adverse to petitioner’s application for
citizenship. Within 60 days from the receipt of the report, the
committee shall then make a decision regarding the petition. If
successful, the petitioner shall pay, within 30 days from approval, a
fee of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and thereafter take
the oath of allegiance and be issued a certificate of naturalization.
Within 5 days after the petitioner has taken his or her oath, the
Bureau of Immigration shall forward a copy of the oath to the proper
local civil registrar and cancel the petitioner’s alien certificate
of registration.
- CONGRESSIONAL/LEGISLATIVE MEANS
The
last mode for naturalization is through a direct act of Congress in
the form of a law specifically vesting Philippine citizenship to an
alien. Legislative naturalization is quite rare as it discretionary
on the part of Congress and reserved only for aliens who have made
outstanding contributions to the country.1
It is well accepted even in U.S. jurisprudence that citizenship
by naturalization is a privilege to be given, qualified, or withheld
as Congress may determine; an individual may claim it as a right only
upon compliance with the terms Congress imposes. This
interpretation makes of the naturalization power the only power
granted (by the Constitution) that is unrestrained by constitutional
limitations on its exercise.2
Immigration Executive Director
Roy Almoro opined in a news article that citizenship granted through
an act of Congress is conferred only to aliens who have made
"significant" contributions to the government or to the
national patrimony. "They are granted to special foreigners who
have excelled and contributed knowledge and resources in enhancing
the welfare of the government.”3
Under the Committee on Justice
Internal Rules of Procedure, under Rule X, a bill granting Philippine
citizenship to a specific person or individual shall be considered as
an application for naturalization. The Committee then calendars for
deliberation the bill only after submission of all the documents that
may be required by the Committee which shall include the police
clearance, NBI clearance, barangay clearance, etc. The duty of the
author and applicant/beneficiary/party in interest would be to appear
during the deliberation of the bill granting Philippine citizenship.
It may also require the applicant/beneficiary/party in interest to
file a letter of intent stating therein his desire and his reasons
for applying for Philippine citizenship. The Committee shall exercise
diligence in determining the validity and genuineness of the
documents submitted and shall conduct a formal examination on the
applicant/beneficiary/party in interest, when necessary.
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