Citizenship … actually the legal term is nationality, but few use it outside immigration court … is always an object of interest ’round here.
A few days ago I got a query regarding my article on Henry Sy. My reader wanted to know how Henry Sy, who was born in China of non-Filipino parent, could be a property owner here in the Philippines. A good question. And from me, the best answer you are going to get is … Henry Sy is listed in all major references as a Filipino. I do not see many details on how he became a Filipino … after all he came to this country in the 1930’s, and his parents were already "landed immigrants" at that time. Henry married Felicidad Tan, also a legal Chinese immigrant and both became legal Philippine citizens (and devout Catholics, by the way) in the period immediately following World War II.
It’s important to remember that the citizenship laws have changed a lot in the Philippines over the past 100 plus years. there have been no less than 6 Constitutions, all of which had important things to say about Philippe citizenship and land ownership … and at least five of which would have governed Henry Sy’s life in the Philippines to date. If you follow the news you’ll know that significant constitutional changes may be in the offing … but who really knows?
For those who want to be real students of these issues, here’s the list of former and present Philippine Constitutions.
1987 Constitution — Present day. Also known as the Aquino Constitution implemented at the end of Marco’s power.
1986 Provisional "Freedom" Constitution — Last ditch attempt of Marcos to remain in power.
1973 Constitution — Implemented by Marcos and supporters to allow Marcos to become de facto dictator
1943 Constitution — Engineered by the Japanese occupiers, set stage for first decades of Filipino independence
1935 Constitution — Commonwealth nation status, signed by Manuel Quezon and Franklin Roosevelt.
1899 Constitution — Drafted and signed at the Barasoain Church, Malolos, Bulacan. formalized the First Philippine Republic and a direct precursor to the hostilities of the War of Philippine Independence or the Philippine Insurrection, depending on which side of the political fence you sat.
So now that know even more than you wanted to know about the background of Philippine citizenship, here’s the factoid of the day to remember. It’s not ancie4nt history, it’s very important as I see a lot of folks making statements or decisions about themselves of their children based on misunderstanding of how the present day laws work.
US citizenship is based primarily upon the principle of jus solis (Latin for "right of the soil"). Although there are important exemptions, in general you are a US citizen if you are born in the US, no matter what the nationality of your parents. Thus, if you are an American citizen and you bring a foreign spouse to the US and have children, your children are almost without question, US citizens. Of the soil.
However, if you are a US citizen and you have a child in a foreign land, that child also has the right of US citizenship, even though he or she is not born "of the soil". That’s because the US also follows another very common legal principle, Jus sanguinis (Latin for "right of blood").
A US citizen who acknowledges a child legally confers upon that child the right of US nationality, regardless of where the child is born. The child is a US citizen with essentially all rights and privileges of a US citizen born on US soil with the major exceptions that s/he cannot be elected President of the US and can not pass on US citizenship to his/her children unless s/he spends some period of time within the US.
Thus you can see that we US citizens have the best of both worlds. Our children are US citizens no matter where born, and if we are married to a foreign national whose own country recognizes jus sanguinis the child can likely be a citizen of that country too.
It’s also important to note that those constitutions I laid out for you above have essentially no provisions for jus solis. In virtually all respects the Philippines does not recognize any form of jus solis. One can not become a Filipino based on being born in the Philippines.
It’s important to note that although many nations accept multiple nationality (Dual Citizenship) some do not … so whether or not a child should claim all the birthrights he or she has becomes a personal decision.