A. Who are Filipino Citizens

Who are Filipino citizens

The following are citizens of the Philippines:

• Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of the 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 with law [Section 1, Article IV, 1987 Constitution].

General Rule

Expatriation is a constitutional right. No one can be compelled to remain a Filipino if he does not want to [Go Julian v. Government, G.R. No. 20809 (1923)]

Petition for Judicial Declaration of Philippine Citizenship

A court may determine Philippine citizenship when it is properly in issue in an authorized proceeding, but a standalone petition merely to declare or confirm citizenship is generally not available.

Citizens of the Philippines on May 14, 1935

• Persons born in the Philippine Islands who resided therein on April 11, 1899 and were Spanish subjects on that date, unless they had lost their Philippine citizenship on or before May 14, 1935;
• Natives of the Spanish Peninsula who resided in the Philippines on April 11, 1899, and who did not declare their intention of preserving their Spanish nationality between that date and October 11, 1900, unless they had lost their Philippine citizenship on or before May 14, 1935;
• Naturalized citizens of Spain who resided in the Philippines on April 11, 1899, and did not declare their intention to preserve their Spanish nationality within the prescribed period (up to October 11, 1900);
• Children born of (1), (2) and (3) subsequent to April 11, 1899, unless they lost their Philippine citizenship on or before May 14, 1935; and
• Persons who became naturalized citizens of the Philippines in accordance with naturalization law since its enactment on March 26, 1920.

Any conclusion on the Filipino citizenship of Lorenzo Poe could only be drawn from the presumption that having died in 1954 at 84 years old, Lorenzo would have been born sometime in the year 1870, when the Philippines was under Spanish rule, and that San Carlos, Pangasinan, his place of residence upon his death in 1954, in the absence of any other evidence, could have well been his place of residence before death, such that Lorenzo Poe would have benefited from the “en masse Filipinization” that the Philippine Bill had effected in 1902 [Tecson v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 161434 (2004)].