Philippine Citizenship

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

This bit of information was in a thread concerning the SRRV Program and I felt it should be in it's proper category so for those considering Dual Citizenship may also know of the other laws not even mentioned in some of these Republic Acts of the Philippines concerning Philippine Citizenship!
These laws may appear to be similar, but they do have a slight difference in their wording!

                                      Philippine Citizenship

                           Philippine Constitutional Law of 1973

http://www.lawphil.net/consti/cons1973.html
                                           
                                         ARTICLE III
                                           CITIZENS

Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution.
Those whose fathers and mothers are citizens of the Philippines.
Those who elect Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of 1935.
Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Section 2. A female citizen of the Philippines who marries an alien retains her Philippine citizenship, unless by her act or omission she is deemed, under the law, to have renounced her citizenship.
Section 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by law.
Section 4. A natural-born citizen is one who is a citizen of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect his Philippine citizenship.


                  Note: If your wife or children were born before 1973, this
                      Philippine Constitutional Law of 1935 will prevail!

http://www.lawphil.net/consti/cons1935.html

                                              ARTICLE IV
                                             CITIZENSHIP

Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
Those who are citizens of the Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this Constitution.
Those born in the Philippine Islands of foreign parents who, before the adoption of this Constitution, had been elected to public office in the Philippine Islands.
Those whose fathers are citizens of the Philippines.
Those whose mothers are citizens of the Philippines and, upon reaching the age of majority, elect Philippine citizenship.
Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Section 2. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by law.

   last, but not least, (don't know if there is more, but there probably will be most likely)         
                         Philippine Constitutional law of 1987

http://lawphil.net/consti/cons1987.html


                                              ARTICLE IV
                                             CITIZENSHIP

Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this 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.
Those who are naturalized in the accordance with law.
Section 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.
Section 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided by law.
Section 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law to have renounced it.
Section 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be dealt with by law.

Note: When in doubt, ask an Immigration Attorney in your home country or at any of the three RP BI Regional office who does the screening and or evaluation of documents concerning Philippine Citizenship!

[Gray Wolf]

Thanks Art!   

[suzukig1]

Just an FYI.  If you have an estate with assets in a foreign country you should check with an estate tax attorney before becoming a dual citizen.

I'm from the U.S. and for estate tax purposes if you have assets in the U.S. it is definitely better to be a U.S. citizen living in the Phl rather than a Phl citizen living in the Phl.  However, I don't know if different Phl laws apply for dual citizens living in the Phl versus Phl citizens living in the Phl.

[Frosty]

I never gave it much thought about dual citizenship and assets left  to family after someone dies. Has anyone come across a list or put together a list of things that we should take care of before we move to the Phil. that would make that process less painful on family members.

Would a Will that is written and recorded in the U.S. or any other country be legal in the Phil?

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

Would a Will that is written and recorded in the U.S. or any other country be legal in the Phil?

This URL Link should answer your question: http://tinyurl.com/lqxlb4p

                              Making a Last Will and Testament
   
The making of a will can never be over-emphasized. It prevents conflict and controversy regarding the remaining estate of a deceased person and fully addresses certain issues with regard to disposition and handling of the same.

What is a will anyway? Under Article 783 of the Civil Code, a will is an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of this estate, to take effect after his death. Further, under Article 784, the making of a will is a strictly personal act; it cannot be left in whole or in part of the discretion of a third person, or accomplished through the instrumentality of an agent or attorney.

Under the Civil Code, there are two kinds of wills which a testator may execute. The first kind is the ordinary or attested will, the execution of which is governed by Articles 804 to 809 of the Civil Code.

(Go to the URL link above for further details)

[suzukig1]

Would a Will that is written and recorded in the U.S. or any other country be legal in the Phil?

I only know about U.S. citizens.  Basically for a U.S. citizen living in the Phl, assets that you have outside of the Phl will follow U.S. inheritance laws and assets that you have in the Phl will most likely follow Phl inheritance laws.

It's important to plan this carefully.  5M USD is exempt from estate taxes in the U.S.  In the Phl only about P1M is exempt from Phl estate taxes.  (Top estate tax rate in the Phl is 20%.)

[Lee2]

Also while on the subject of wills, I have been told by Philippine bank managers that joint accounts will be locked if one partner dies thus making it hard for the other partner to get money if needed. While I have no idea why that would be true on joint accounts with right of survivorship, I have to wonder what a wife or husband would do if they needed money right away if their joint accounts ended up locked?

In the US all a wife or husband after a death has to do on a joint account is bring a death certificate to get the title of the account changed whereas I wonder how long it might take to get access to the funds in the same situation in the Philippines with their always lengthy complicated paperwork system   

Would the wife having Joint or Philippine citizenship make it easier or harder to do?

[medic3500]

That's why if one or the other dies on a joint account the first thing to do is have a list of things must do immediately. On the top of that should be clean out the bank accounts over the course of a few days and open an account in another bank in your name only.
 

[suzukig1]

Also while on the subject of wills, I have been told by Philippine bank managers that joint accounts will be locked if one partner dies thus making it hard for the other partner to get money if needed. While I have no idea why that would be true on joint accounts with right of survivorship...

I was told by a Phl attorney that the bank has to lock the account until they get notification from the BIR that the estate taxes, if any are owed, have been paid.  If they didn't lock joint accounts the account might be emptied before any estate taxes that are owed are paid.

The Phl doesn't treat right of survivorship the same as the U.S.  The deceased person's half goes into the deceased person's estate and goes through probate and gets taxed. 

Article 130 of the Family Code of the Philippines:  "Upon the termination of the marriage by death, the conjugal partnership property shall be liquidated in the same proceeding for the settlement of the estate of the deceased."  http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm#.UIJ5j8WsiSo


I'm still trying to find out if assets other than land even if only in my wife's name are still community property and half will get taxed when I die.  (If so, then I would leave most of it in the U.S. where 5M USD can pass tax free.)  (Note: land is definitely not part of community property when a foreign spouse is involved.  This has been verified by the Phl Supreme Court.  http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1991/jan1991/gr_74833_1991.html)

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

A simple solution would be, that your wife have accounts only in her name in the U.S. and in the Philippines that are not associated with any of your joint accounts!
Long ago when our Mom passed away in the U.S. and I was associated with her U.S. bank accounts, my own personal accounts especially my U.S. government pensions were affected too and was closed out! That really put me in predicament where all of my U.S government pension direct deposit accounts were sitting in limbo and had nowhere to go until my own accounts were reinstated! Luckily I got it all sorted out without too much problems, but back then we didn't yet have internet or our own home phone and had to use international long distance phone calls and they weren't cheap since there were no such things as discounted calling cards or promos!