CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship
• is a membership in a political community
which is personal and more or less
permanent in character.
• It came from the Greeks during the golden
age of Plato and Aristotle as Aristotle’s
thinking of citizenship was more of a
privilege to participate in the government
and hold public office. 2
Nationality
• on the other hand, refers to
membership in any class or form of
polical community. Nationality does
not necessarily include the right or
privilege of exercising civil or political
rights (Ayson & Reyes, 2000).
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• Those persons who enjoy political and
civil rights are called citizens.
• A citizen of a given state or country
who owes allegiance is entitled to its
protection. A citizen must be proud of
his citizenship. He should treasure and
cherish it.
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• A citizen can also be distinguished from the
alien in that an alien is a foreigner and not a
citizen of the country where they are living.
• The alien enjoys civil rights but not political
rights in the country where he resides. He
cannot, for example, vote or hold an elective
office (Ligan,Laya, Rabaca & Ruiz, 2014).
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▰Who are the Citizens
of the Philippines?

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Section 1, Article IV of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution identified the ciuzens of the
Philippines as:
1. Those who are citizens of the Philippines
at the time of the adoption of this
Constitution;
2. Those whose fathers and mothers are
citizens of the Philippines;
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3. Those born before January 17, 1973, of
Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine
citizenship upon reaching the age of majority;
4. Those who are naturalized in accordance
with law.

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Individuals whose fathers or mothers
are citizens of the Philippines by blood
relationship following the principle of
jus sanguinis are also considered
Filipino citizen. Under the principle of
jus sanguinis, the person acquires the
citizenship of his parents.
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Citizens by election refer to those born
before January 17, 1973 of Filipina
mothers married to aliens who elect
Philippine citizenship upon reaching the
age of majority which is 21 years old.

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If a person was born alter the ratification of the
1973 Constitution on January 17, he is a
natural born citizen under the provision that he
was born of a Filipino father or a Filipino
mother. In the former case, citizens who had
elected Philippine citizenship under the 1935
Constitution before January 17, 1973 are
natural born citizens since from their birth they
have an inchoate right to elect such
citizenship. 11
Citizens by naturalization are those persons who
were formerly citizens of other countries and who
applied for naturalization in accordance with law in
a certain state in order to become a citizen of that
country. The persons involved are called
naturalized citizens as distinguished from natural-
born citizens.

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Who are the Natural-Born
Citizens of the Philippines?

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Natural-born citizens are those who
are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act
to acquire or perfect their citizenship
(Section 2, Article IV).

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It is important to note who natural-born Filipino
citizens are considering that most government
positions provided by the 1987 Constitution
require as a principal qualification natural-born
citizenship. The Constitution reserves positions to
be occupied only by natural-born Filipino citizens
as they are perceived to have whole-hearted
loyalty to the Republic of the Philippines (Ligan,
Laya, Rabaca & Ruiz, 2014).
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The following should be natural-born Filipino
citizens:
1. The President and Vice-President
2. Members of the House of Representatives
3. Members of the Senate
4. Members of the Supreme Court
5. Members of the Constitutional Commission
6. The Ombudsman Modes of Acquiring
Citizenship
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MODES OF ACQUIRING
CITIZENSHIP
There are several ways in which
citizenship can be acquired. The most
common methods are:
1.By birth
2.By naturalization
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Citizenship by Birth

There are 2 general principles

applicable to this mode. They are:
1. Jus sanguinis, literally means “law
of blood."
2. Jus soli, literally means “law of the
soil.” 18
• Under the principle of jus sanguinis, a child possesses
from the time of his birth a citizenship which is the same as
that of his parents, or one of them, regardless of the place
in which he was born. Thus a child born in the United
crates Of Filipino parents is a Filipino citizen under jus
sanguinis.
• The Philippines follows the jus sanguinis principle. Other
countries like Italy, poland, Germany, Finland, Turkey and
South Korea also adopt jus sanguinis.

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Under the principle of jus soli, the
citizenship of the child is determined by the
country in which he was born regardless of
the citizenship of his parents. Countries that
adopt this principle are: USA, Belgium,
France, Portugal, Brazil, Canada and Spain
(Ligan, Laya, Rabaca & Ruiz, 2014).
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Citizenship by Naturalization

A citizen may also acquire citizenship

by naturalization. Naturalization is the
conferment by law of citizenship to a
foreigner after he has fulfilled all
prescribed conditions.
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Steps in Applying for Naturalization in the Philippines
(Ayson & Reyes, 2000)
1. Filing of a declaration of intention one year prior to the
filing of the petition with the Office of the Solicitor
General.
2. Filing of the petition, accompanied by the affidavit of
two credible persons, who are citizens of the
Philippines and who personally know
3. the petitioner, as character witnesses
4. Publication of the petition
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Steps in Applying for Naturalization
in the Philippines (Ayson & Reyes,
2000)
4. Actual residence in the Philippines
during the entire proceedings
5. Hearing of the petition
6. Promulgation of the decision
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Steps in Applying for Naturalization in the Philippines
(Ayson & Reyes, 2000)
7. Hearing after two years. During the two-year probation
period, applicant should not leave the Philippines, should
dedicate himself continuously to a lawful calling or
profession, should not be convicted of any offense or
violation of rules, and should not have committed an act
prejudicial to the interest of the nation or contrary to any
Government-announced policies.
8. Oath-taking and issuance of the certificate of
naturalization
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