CITIZENSHIPDefinitionRolesIssues

ICEBREAKER!

DEFINITION How is it to be a Filipino citizen?Effective citizen

HOW IS IT TO BE A FILIPINO CITIZENAndrew Heywood, in Key Concepts of Politics (2000), defines citzenship as such:

A relationship between the individual and state, in which the two are bound together by reciprocal rights and duties.

“Citizens” vs “Subjects” and “Aliens”

* Citizens are full members of their political community by virtue of possession of basic rights.

* Citizenship is linked to liberalism: private entitlement and status of the individual as an autonomous actor

RIGHTS OF A CITIZEN

* Natural Rights Inherent to man as a human being (love, be happy)

* Constitutional Rights Rights guaranteed under fundamental charter of country (Bill of Rights: Article III, Philippine Constitution)

Rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, rights safeguarding the accused

* Statutory Rights Rights provided by lawmaking body Right to receive minimum wage, right to preliminary investigation

BILL OF RIGHTS

Article III, Phil. Constitution: Bill of Rights

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of the law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Article XIV: Right to education

Article XII: Right to social justice

Article II: Right to health

Government duty: ensure that the rights of the individual are properly balanced against government powers in a way that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number or redound to the public good (De Leon, H., De Leon Jr., H., 2010)

EFFECTIVE CITIZENSHIP

All citizens must play a role in nation building.

Article II, Section 13: Role of the Youth

* Youth constitute the biggest sector in the Philippines today

* better-educated, more politically aware

* Involvement in public and civic affairs

* Government’s duty: to promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being; inculcate patriotism and nationalism; educate the youth

EFFECTIVE CITIZENSHIP

All citizens must play a role in nation building.

Article II, Section 14: Role of Women

* For the longest time women have joined men in the fight for freedom

* Government’s duty: to ensure equality between women and men (e.g. in opportunities for employment, pursuit of business, etc.)

ROLES ConstraintsWho is a Filipino Citizen?

WHO ARE PHILIPPINE CITIZENS UNDER THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION?The 1987 Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 provides:

    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.

WHO IS A NATURAL-BORN FILIPINO CITIZEN?

Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens from birth without

having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine

citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance

with the Constitution shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

WHAT ARE THE MODES OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP?There are two (2) generally recognized modes of acquiring Philippine citizenship, namely:

1) by birth; andJus soli (right of soil) which is the legal principle that a person's nationality at birth is determined by the place of birth (ie, 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 Philippines adheres to this principle.

2) 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. (2 Am.Jur.561, par.188)

WHAT ARE THE BASES OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP? There are 3 bases for acquiring citizenship by birth, namely:

1) Jus soli (right of soil) which is the legal principle that a person's nationality at birth is determined by the place of birth (ie, the territory of a given state).

2) 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 Philippines adheres to this principle;

3)   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. (2 Am.Jur.561, par.188)

WHO MAY QUALIFY AS PHILIPPINE CITIZEN BY NATURALIZATION UNDER THE REVISED NATURALIZATION ACT?

Under Section 2 of the Revised Naturalization Law the applicant must possess the following qualifications:

He must not be less than twenty-one years of age on the day of the hearing of the petition;

He must have resided in the Philippines for a continuous period of not less than ten years;

He 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;

He 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;

He must be able to speak or write English or Spanish or anyone of the principal languages;

He must have enrolled his minor children of school age in any of the public or private schools recognized by the Bureau of Public Schools of the Philippines 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 the petition  for naturalization as Philippine citizen;

WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO APPLY FOR NATURALIZATION OF THE REVISED NATURALIZATION LAW?

Under Section of 4 of the Revised Naturalization Law, the following persons cannot qualify for Philippine citizenship:

Persons opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments;

Persons defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the success and predominance of their ideas;

Polygamists or believers in the practice of polygamy;

Persons  convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude;

Persons suffering from mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases;

Persons who during the period of their stay 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;

Citizens or subjects of nations with whom the Philippines is at war

Citizens or subjects of a foreign country other than the United States, whose laws do not grant Filipinos the right to become naturalized citizens or subject thereof;

ISSUESFPJ electionsMayor Lim

FPJ 2004 ELECTIONS

On 31 December 2003, respondent Ronald Allan Kelly Poe, also known as Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ), filed his certificate of candidacy for the position of President of the Republic of the Philippines for the May 2004 national elections under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) Party. In his certificate of candidacy, FPJ represented himself to be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.

Various petitioners sought to disqualify FPJ in his bid for the presidency on the contention that he made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy by claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen when in truth, his parents were foreigners; his mother an American and his father, a Spanish national since his father was the son of Lorenzo Pou, who was a Spanish subject.

WAS FPJ A CITIZEN? The death certificate of Lorenzo Pou would indicate that he died on 11 September 1954, at the age of 84 years old, in San Carlos, Pangasinan. It could thus be assumed that Lorenzo Pou was born sometime in the year 1870 when the Philippines was still a colony of Spain. Petitioner argued that Lorenzo Pou was not in the Philippines during the crucial period of from 1898 to 1902 considering that there was no existing record about such fact in the Records Management and Archives Office. Petitioner, however, likewise failed to show that Lorenzo Pou was at any other place during the same period. In his death certificate, the residence of Lorenzo Pou was stated to be San Carlos, Pangasinan. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the Court presumed that the residence of the person at the time of his death was also his residence before death. In fact, it would be extremely doubtful if the Records Management and Archives Office had complete records of all residents of the Philippines from 1898 to 1902.

Thus, the Supreme Court concluded that if Lorenzo Pou is assumed to be in the Philippines in 11 April 1891, being a Spanish subject who continued to reside in the Philippines without preserving his allegiance to the Crown of Spain, then he was converted to a Filipino citizen in accordance with the Philippine Bill of 1902. Lorenzo Pou now being a Filipino, Allan Poe is also a Filipino upon birth and Fernando Poe Jr. is likewise held to be a natural-born Filipino in accordance with the 1935 Constitution.

ON LEGITIMACY The Convention on the Rights of the Child was also used as basis in this case since it abolished all discriminations on account of “birth or other status.” The Convention protects in the most comprehensive way all rights of children: political rights, civil rights, social rights, economic rights and cultural rights. A violation of one right is considered a violation of the other rights. It also embraced the rule that all actions of a State concerning the child should consider the “best interests” of the child. This was, however, attacked by Justice Carpio in his dissent by stating that FPJ cannot invoke the Convention since he is no longer a child when the convention was ratified in the Philippines in September 1990 and, thus, has no retroactive effect. Moreover, he stated that the Convention has the status of a municipal law and its ratification could not have amended the express requirement in the Constitution that only natural-born citizens of the Philippines are qualified to be President. He further noted that the Convention does not guarantee a child a citizenship at birth, but merely “the right to acquire a nationality” in accordance with municipal law. When FPJ was born in 1939, he was apparently under United States law an American citizen at birth. After his birth FPJ also had the right to acquire Philippine citizenship by proving his filiations to his alleged Filipino father in accordance with Philippine law. At no point in time was FPJ in danger of being stateless. Clearly, FPJ cannot invoke the Convention to claim he is a natural-born Philippine citizen.

The majority opinion and the dissenting opinions also discussed the concepts derived from the Civil Code in relation to this issue. However, this was not given great weight by the Court since the distinctions between legitimacy and illegitimacy codified in the Civil Code should remain only in the sphere of civil law and not unduly impede or infringe on the domain of political law.

MAYOR LIM

Two birth certificates bearing the name of Alfredo Siojo Lim born on December 21, 1929 in Manuguit Maternity and Children’s Hospital indicate different nationalities of Lim’s parents. 

In one document, Lim’s father and namesake Alfredo Lim was identified as a Chinese mestizo born in Binondo, Manila. His mother on the other hand, Rosario Siojo, was identified as a Chinese merchant, born in San Miguel, Bulacan. 

In the said document, the spaces provided for date of registry and registry number were left blank.  

In what appears to be another birth certificate, both Lim’s parents were described as Filipinos. The birth certificate was registered on March 31, 1951, when Lim was already a young adult at 21 years old. It also bears the Registry Number 1498, and is stamped with “Late Registration.” 

HOT TOPIC . . . MAY 10, 2013

The citizenship of reelectionist Mayor Alfredo Lim has once more been put in question, but on Friday he dared his challenger, former President Joseph Estrada, to prove he is an alien or quit the mayoral race.

In a statement sent to reporters, Estrada evoked confidence he could beat his estranged friend and former Cabinet appointee, whom he claimed is haunted by a controversy on his citizenship, being the offspring of alleged Chinese parents.

"The majority of voters are still very much in doubt whether he is a Filipino or not. Unless this is settled, he can never get the full support of the Manileños who want a true Filipino mayor in heart and in commitment to service,” Estrada said.

Lim could be liable for falsification of public documents, a criminal offense, according to Estrada. But he said he has no plans of filing a disqualification case before the courts anytime soon for lack of time. 

"I want the people to be the ones to disqualify him by not reelecting him. I’m not like him, who thrice filed disqualification cases against me---in the Comelec, the regional trial court and the  Sandiganbayan. All of those were dismissed,” Estrada said, speaking in Filipino.

CREDITS

http://immigration.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=206&Itemid=80

http://www.angelfire.com/art3/consti_citizen/Tecson.htm

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/307614/news/metromanila/up-law-s-roque-contests-mayor-lim-s-filipino-citizenship

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/61433/manila-race--citizenship-hounds-lim-who-dares-erap-to-prove-hes-alien-or-quit-race