7/25/2019 Natural Born Citizen
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UBLIC LIVES
Natural born Citizen
Philippine Daily Inquirer
By: Randy David,August 13th, 21! 12:12 A"
#hat $hrase, %ithout a hy$hen, &irst a$$eared in the 'nited
(tates Constitution as one o& the re)uire*ents &or the
$osition
o& $resident+ A natural born Citizen- is a $erson %ho is a
.itizen &ro* birth, in .ontrast to one %ho a.)uires .itizenshi$
by
naturalization+ No other $osition in the A*eri.an govern*ent
s$e.i&ies this re)uire*ent+
#he story is told that it %as /eorge 0ashington no less %ho
introdu.ed this uni)ue $hrase into the dra&t A*eri.an
.onstitution, &ollo%ing a suggestion &ro* a*es ay, %ho
%ould later be.o*e .hie& usti.e o& the '( (u$re*e Court+
ay
%as troubled by the $ossibility that the nations ar*ed
&or.es %ould be $la.ed under the .o**and o& anyone other
than a
natural born Citizen+- #his re)uire*ent %as intended, usti.e
ose$h (tory e$lains in his lu.id Co**entaries on the
Constitution, to inter$ose a barrier against those .orru$t
inter&eren.es o& &oreign govern*ents in ee.utive
ele.tions+-
#he $hrase, no% hy$henated, &ound its %ay into the
4hili$$ine Constitution, %here it is $res.ribed not ust &or
the
$residen.y but also &or *e*bershi$ in both houses o&
Congress+ And ust as it has been invo5ed *any ti*es to
.hallenge
the eligibility o& .andidates &or the '( $residen.y, it
.o*es as no sur$rise that it %ould also be used to o$$ose the
.andida.ies o& so*e $eo$le in 4hili$$ine $oliti.s+
6a%s $ertaining to .itizenshi$ are s$e.i&i. to every nation+
#hey .hange over ti*e, re&le.ting the values and anieties
o& agiven $eriod+ "y i*$ression is that it is relatively easier
to a.)uire .itizenshi$ in the 'nited (tates than in the
4hili$$ines+
But on.e A*eri.an .itizenshi$ is renoun.ed, it is virtually
i*$ossible to get it ba.5+
7n our .ase, %e $assed a la%, Re$ubli. A.t No+ 822!, the
Citizenshi$ Retention and Re9a.)uisition A.t o& 23,-
other%ise 5no%n as the Dual Citizenshi$ 6a%, that enables
natural9born ili$ino .itizens, %ho lost their .itizenshi$ %hen
they a$$lied &or naturalization in another .ountry, to
rea.)uire it+ ;ne si*$ly noti&ies the Bureau o& 7**igration
in "anila
or a 4hili$$ine .onsulate abroad, sho%ing $roo& o& being
natural9born, and ta5es a none.lusive oath o& allegian.e+
Dual
.itizens regain their ili$ino .itizenshi$ %ithout ris5ing their
&oreign .itizenshi$+ #hey get to enoy all the rights and
$rivileges o& ili$ino .itizens, e.e$t a$$oint*ent or
ele.tion to $ubli. o&&i.e+
#he $ur$ose o& this la% is to en.ourage the *illions o&
ili$inos %ho have le&t the .ountry and settled abroad to .o*e
ba.5
and hel$ in the develo$*ent o& their native land+ 4assing it
%as &ar &ro* easy+ ;ur Constitution ealously &ro%ns
u$on dual
allegian.e, .alling it ini*i.al to the national interest+- But
RA 822! has survived re$eated .hallenges to its
.onstitutionality+
Citizenshi$ is a legal issue, but also an e*otional one+ 7 a*
not a la%yer, but 7 thin5 (en+ /ra.e 4oes eligibility &or
an
ele.tive $osition in the legislature or the $residen.y is
arguable using RA 822!+ #hat la% $er*itted her to regain her
status
as a natural9born .itizen o& this .ountry+ But those %ho
o$$ose her on .itizenshi$ grounds %ill li5ely as5 %hether
so*eone
%ho renoun.ed and later rea.)uired 4hili$$ine .itizenshi$ .an
still be .onsidered a natural9born .itizen as de&ined by
the
18eres %hat Arti.le 7?, (e.tion 2, says: Natural9born .itizens
are those %ho are .itizens o& the
4hili$$ines &ro* birth %ithout having to $er&or* any a.t
to a.)uire or $er&e.t their 4hili$$ine .itizenshi$+-
@uestions: 7& you renoun.ed and lost your .itizenshi$and
later rea.)uired it a&ter a$$lying and ta5ing an
oath%ouldnt
the latter be regarded as $er&or*ing an a.t to a.)uire or
$er&e.t- ones .itizenshi$ Doesnt renoun.ing your
.itizenshi$
*ean .an.eling your allegian.e to your *other .ountry And isnt
that the reason &or ta5ing the oath o& allegian.e %henyou
a$$ly to regain it
7 thin5 it %as /ra.es voluntary renun.iation o& her ili$ino
.itizenshi$ at one $oint in her li&e, rather than the
un.ertainty o&
her .itizenshi$ at birth as a &oundling, that %ill hound her
$oliti.al .areer+ #his is not ust a legal issue+ 7t is also,
unavoidably, a $oliti.al one be.ause it has to do %ith .hoosing
the $eo$le %ho %ill *a5e de.isions in our na*e+ #here has
to be a reason &or the .onstitutional re)uire*ent that the
$resident o& the re$ubli. be a natural9born .itizen, ust as 7
a*
sure there is a reason &or re)uiring holders o& high
o&&i.es in our govern*ent to hold no other .itizenshi$ but
ili$ino+
7 have &our siblings %ho, li5e *any ili$inos, have lived in
A*eri.a &or years and have o$ted to be.o*e A*eri.an
.itizens+
7 never )uestioned their de.ision be.ause 7 dont believe that
ones enduring a&&inities and a&&e.tions are
deter*ined by
%hatever $ass$ort one ha$$ens to be holding+
http://opinion.inquirer.net/column/public-liveshttp://opinion.inquirer.net/source/philippine-daily-inquirerhttp://opinion.inquirer.net/byline/-randy-davidhttp://opinion.inquirer.net/byline/-randy-davidhttp://opinion.inquirer.net/source/philippine-daily-inquirerhttp://opinion.inquirer.net/byline/-randy-davidhttp://opinion.inquirer.net/column/public-lives
