More Filipinos regain citizenship with RA 9225

More than 13,000 former Filipinos have already regained their Philippine citizenship in just two years since the Bureau of Immigration (BI) began implementing the so-called dual citizenship law, the BI said Tuesday. BI acting commissioner Arthel Caronongan said that as of yesterday, the bureau has approved a total of 13,400 petitions for dual citizenship under Republic Act 9225, also know as the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act. Caronongan said that 7,200 of the petitions were approved at the BI main office in Manila while the remaining 6,200 were processed at the various Philippine consulates abroad. He added that as usual, Ex-Filipinos who became naturalized US citizens topped the list of the approved applicants, followed by those who are based in Canada, Australia and Europe. It was in April, 2004 that the BI started processing petitions for dual citizenship after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo designated the bureau as the lead agency for implementing the said act. Under the said act which Congress passed in 2003, natural-born Filipinos who have become naturalized citizens of other countries are deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship. Those who avail of the said act automatically regain their rights and privileges as Filipinos, including the right to vote, own properties here, obtain a Philippine passport, and be exempted from immigration law requirements. Congress passed the law to encourage former Filipinos who have already settled abroad to return to their land of their birth and reestablish contact with their relatives here. Atty. Arvin Santos, who heads the BI task force that screens petitions for dual citizenship, said a surge in the number of applicants was noticed after the bureau eased the requirements for availing of the said law. He specifically cited a new rule that no longer requires an applicant to submit a birth certificate authenticated by the National Statistics Office (NSO) as in lieu of which he may instead submit other documents such as his old Philippine passports, marriage contract, old voter’s affidavit, as proof that he is a natural-born Filipino. It was learned that the new rule was adopted after many of the applicants manifested they could no longer submit their birth certificate as these were either burned during the war or were lost due to fortuitous events.-GMANews.TV