Citizenship Retention 2003

By Yolanda Ortega Stern, contributor
INQ7.net
August 28, 2003

THE CITIZENSHIP Retention bill that the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives have passed and that is about to be signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is by far one of the most important bills produced by the bicameral legislature.

Not only is it a major bill, it is historic. Its far-reaching impact on several levels can only be imagined now and the 1.8 million Filipinos outside the Philippines who lost their citizenship have not yet fully realized the full enormity of it. And of this number, 1.2 million reside in the United States.

It has been a duel, but absolutely every subject of debate has been argued in the halls of no less than 96 countries that eventually opted to grant the same for their natives who emigrated to other countries in search of greener pastures. And not one of those countries has yet recalled it out of existence. In short, it is OK -- no one has yet proven that it has been harmful. The arguments for it and the digested product of months of research are published in a primer distributed during the campaign titled "Philippine Citizenship Retention Act -- Once a Filipino Always a Filipino." It is also available for downloading at www.fpacc.com.

This bill must not be mistaken or seen as bound to the Absentee Voting Law. The right to vote is only one privilege of citizenship, the absentee vote being one. But citizenship was the "horse" in our advocacy of the "Horse and Carriage" bills. The Constitution is the barn. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I will point out once again that the carriage was taken into the leaky barn first because it became a part of the constitution in 1987 but was never implemented. The compromise language of the affidavit in the Absentee Voting Law was a result of the leaky barn, which is next in line for repair.

What advantages are now going to result from citizenship retention? At the binational scale incredible benefits will increase in geometric proportions over time. For starters, if 2 million naturalized citizens apply for Philippine passports at a cost of 50 dollars apiece, it will bring a hefty sum into the Philippine coffers at the current exchange rate. Add at least one child under 17 to that figure and you can compute the immediate advantage. Take a Filipino doctor who began practicing medicine in the US at the age of 30. He is now 56, prosperous, and is longing for "home" and bagoong but is in semi-retirement and does not want to live an idle life because he has gotten used to the American penchant for self-determination. He can now practice in the Philippines, play golf, build a home and bring his family with him. Take a 17-year-old who was born, adopted or out of wedlock to a person who has re-acquired citizenship -- he will now be a validated Filipino and can do the same.

But the impact on the 86 million Filipinos living in the Philippines is going to be a major psychological booster. For no longer are we Filipinos divided into several categories: naturalized, green card, TNT, OFW. We may leave, we may hide, we may deny our heritage but we are all one -- a Filipino.

The Citizenship Retention bill is surprisingly concise, clear-cut and simple. Perhaps the legislators have become more adept at crafting laws and have learned from their experience with grappling with articles in the Philippine Constitution that have forced them to circumvent further arguments as in the case of the residency requirements for voters. In any case, this bicameral legislature deserves our congratulations because they really and truly worked with us as partners towards a binational effort to empower the Filipino. They do not realize it yet, but they are responsible for ultimately taking from the overseas Filipino the status of "second-class citizen."

The US, UK, Spain, Australia and Canada, where the major population of naturalized citizens reside, will wake up soon to the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and their adopted countries will be seen in a new light. The Philippine diaspora demands this frame. Overseas Filipino remittances require special validation beyond mere recognition. The global train is moving forward carrying with it millions of Filipinos who satisfy the need for service sector combatants in all areas of the global work force. The Filipino is the real "Pearl of the Orient" and we thank the Almighty that our country has embraced us once more.

Dakila ka, Pinoy!

The author is the president of the Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce.

RELATED SITE:
Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce