Re-acquisition of Citizenship

Citizenship may be reacquired, even though it is lost, according to the provisions of the law. 

There are several ways of reacquiring citizenship.  It may be reacquired through naturalization,

repatriation, or through direct act of law.

Repatriation is the recovery of original citizenship. If what was lost was naturalized citizenship,

that is what will be reacquired.  If natural-born citizenship was lost, then natural-born citizenship will be

reacquired.[1] Technically, it is not acquiring citizenship as a person, but it is merely re-taking what was

once his.

Reacquisition of Philippine citizenship does not have an automatic effect. The fact that a

former Filipino is elected does not automatically restore Philippine citizenship, the possession of which is

an indispensable requirement for holding public office.[2] As what the Supreme Court has held in the case

of Labo, Jr. v. COMELEC:[3] “Philippine citizenship is not a cheap commodity that can be easily

recovered after its renunciation. It may be restored only after the returning renegade makes a formal act of

re-dedication to the country he has abjured and he solemnly affirms once again his total and exclusive

loyalty to the Republic of the Philippines.”

 

SUBSTANTIVE LAWS ON HOW TO REAQUIRE FILIPINO CITIZENSHIP

            According to Commonwealth Act No. 63, citizenship may be reacquired through the following

means:

(1)   By naturalization: Provided, That the applicant possess none of the

disqualification's prescribed in section two of Act Numbered Twenty-nine

hundred and twenty-seven,

(2)   By repatriation of deserters of the Army, Navy or Air Corp: Provided, That a

woman who lost her citizenship by reason of her marriage to an alien may be

repatriated in accordance with the provisions of this Act after the termination

of the marital status; and

(3)   By direct act of the National Assembly[4]

 

Women who have lost their citizenship because of marriage may reacquire their citizenship by

repatriation.  Republic Act No. 8171 [5] provides the following:

Filipino women who have lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to aliens

and natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship, including

their minor children, on account of political or economic necessity, may

reacquire Philippine citizenship through repatriation in the manner provided in

Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 63, as amended: Provided, That the

applicant is not a:

 

(1) Person opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or

group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing organized

government;

(2) Person defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal

assault, or association for the predominance of their ideas;

(3) Person convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude; or

(4) Person suffering from mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases.

 

Repatriation shall be effected by taking the necessary oath of allegiance to the

Republic of the Philippines and registration in the proper civil registry and in the

Bureau of Immigration. The Bureau of Immigration shall thereupon cancel the

pertinent alien certificate of registration and issue the certificate of identification as

Filipino citizen to the repatriated citizen.

 

Notably, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Santiago, the Supreme Court en banc, ruled

that a repatriated person regains his old citizenship.[6]  As noted civilist Arturo Tolentino said: there are

two ways of acquiring citizenship which is (1) by birth and (2) by naturalization.  These ways of acquiring

citizenship correspond to the two kinds of citizens: natural-born citizen and naturalized citizen. In the

constitution, it is defined that natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth

without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. [7] On the other hand

naturalized citizen are those who become Filipinos through naturalization, generally under the Revised

Naturalization Law[8] or by Republic Act. No.530.[9]  There is special type of citizenship for repatriated

Filipinos.  

            As earlier mentioned, there are three ways of reacquiring citizenship.  Repatriation as a means of

reacquiring citizenship would result to the reacquisition of the original citizenship, since it only consists of

taking the oath of allegiance of the Republic of the Philippines and registering said oath in the Local Civil

Registry of the place where the person concerned last resided.[10]  Since there are only two kinds of

citizens, a repatriated person would eventually fall in either one.  Since a repatriated person is not

naturalized, and there is an absence of a category of repatriated persons, then by deduction he is a natural-

born citizen.[11] 

            However, in the dissenting opinion penned by Justice Sandoval-Gutierrez[12], he claimed that

reacquisition of citizenship through repatriation does not make a person a natural-born.   It is noted that this

person, for some time became an alien and it is absurd that he will still revert back to his original natural-

born status.  Evidently he did several processes, which is repatriation, to regain his citizenship.

            Repatriation also entitles the minor children to be Filipino citizens.[13]  Once the repatriation of

either of their parents is perfected then the minor children can acquire Filipino citizenship as well.   This is

in line with the followed mode of acquisition of citizenship which is jus sangunis.

In Lim v. Republic[21], the Court held that a female citizen, who has lost her citizenship by reason of

marriage to an alien, may regain her original citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of

the Philippines and registering such oath in the proper civil registry. 

            R.A. No. 8171[22] also currently provides for the repatriation of natural-born citizens. Natural-born

Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship may reacquire Philippine citizenship upon filing a

petition with the Special Committee on Naturalization.[23] They must make a declaration that (1) petitioner

is not a person opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who

uphold and teach doctrines opposing organized government; (2) petitioner is not a person defending or

teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the predominance of

their ideas; (3) petitioner is not a person convicted of crimes against moral turpitude; or (4) petitioner is not

a person suffering from mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases.[24]