NATIONALITY

Personal Law
What is the importance of Personal Law?
Determination of Nationality
• 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;
and
• Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Natural – born Citizens

• An individual may be considered a natural born citizen

following the principles of jus sanguinis and jus soli
Citizens by naturalization

• Naturalization confers to an alien a nationality after birth by any

of the means provided by the law
Qualifications for applicants for naturalization

1. The petitioner must not be less than 21 years of age as of the

date of the hearing of the petition;
2. He must have, as a rule, resided in the Philippines for a
continuous period of not less than ten years;
3. He must be of good moral character, and believe in the
principles underlying the Philippine Constitution, and must
have conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner
during the entire period of his residence in the Philippines in
his relations with the constituted government as well as with
the community in which he is living.
Qualifications for applicants for naturalization
4. He must own real estate in the Philippines worth not less than
P5,000, Philippine currency, or must have some lucrative trade,
profession, or lawful occupation
5. He must be able to speak and write English or Spanish and any
one of the principal Philippine languages.
6. He must have enrolled his minor children of school age in any of
the public schools or private schools recognized by the Bureau of
Private Schools where Philippine history, government and civics
are taught or prescribed as part of the school curriculum during
the entire period of the residence required of him, prior to the
hearing of his petition for naturalization as citizen.
How many Philippine citizenship be reacquired?

By Naturalization
By reparation of deserters of the Army,
Navy, or Air Corps
By direct act of Congress
Procedure for Naturalization

Oath of
Declaration
Allegiance

Petition Publication
Loss of Philippine Citizenship
• By naturalization in foreign countries
• By express renunciation of citizenship
• By subscribing to an oath of allegiance to support
the constitution or laws of a foreign country upon
attaining 21 years of age or more, subject to certain
exceptions
• By rendering service to, or accepting commission
in, the armed forces of a foreign country, subject to
certain exceptions
Loss of Philippine Citizenship
• By having been declared by competent
authority, a deserter of the Philippine armed
forces on time of war, unless subsequently, a
plenary pardon or amnesty has been granted
• In the case of a woman, upon her marriage to a
foreigner, if by virtue of the laws in force in her
husband’s country, she acquires his nationality
• By cancellation of the certificate of
naturalization
Dual or Multiple
Citizenship
Statelessness
DOMICILE
 relation with which the law creates
between an individual and a particular
locality or country

For the existence of civil rights and the

fulfillment of civil obligations, the domicile
of natural persons is the place of their
habitual residence

DOMICILE
 For juridical persons, domicile is determined by
the law creating or recognizing it. (Article 51 of the
Civil Code)
In the absence, it is the place where their legal
representation or place of business is.

DOMICILE
Romualdez Marcos v. COMELEC, 249 SCRA 300 (1995)
“Residence” is used to indicate abode, whether
permanent or temporary, while “domicile” denotes
a fixed permanent residence to which, when
absent, one has the intention of returning.

DOMICILE and RESIDENCE

 Domicile is the preferred primary connection
between a person and a state
It provides an adequate basis for him to exercise his
rights and the states to impose duties on him

Merits of Domicile
1. One’s domicile is not ascertainable without first
resorting to the courts to establish whether or not there
is
2. The notion of domicile differs widely with some states
distinguishing between residence or domicile or
attributing different meanings
3. Of the law pf domicile of origin is given overriding
significance, then it may create the same problem of
attenuated connection on the use of nationality as
personal law

Demerits of Domicile
1. No person shall be without a domicile
2. A person cannot have two simultaneous domicile
3. It establishes a connection between a person and a
particular territorial unit
4. The burden of proving a domicile is upon whoever alleges
that a change has been secured.

General Rules on Domicile

Romualdez Marcos v. COMELEC, 248 SCRA 300 (1995)
The Court ruled that an individual does not lose his domicile even if
he has lived and maintained residence on different places.
First, a minor follows the domicile of her parent, it follows that in
spite of the fact of petitioner’s being born in Manila, Tacloban,
Leyte was her domicile of origin by operation of law.
Second, domicile of origin is not easily lost. To successfully effect a
change of domicile, one must demonstrate: a) an actual removal
from domicile; b) a bona fide intention of abandoning the former
place of residence and establishing a new one; and c) acts which
correspond with purpose. In this connection, it cannot be correctly
argued that petitioner lost her domicile of origin by operation of
law as a result of her marriage to Marcos in 1952.
Kinds of Domicile

1. Domicile of origin
it refers to a person’s domicile at birth
2. Domicile of choice
it is the place freely chosen by a person sui generis
3. Domicile of by operation of law
it is the domicile assigned or attributed by law to a
person
1. Domicile of origin
it refers to a person’s domicile at birth
2. Domicile of choice
it is the place freely chosen by a person sui
generis
3. Domicile of by operation of law
it is the domicile assigned or attributed by
law to a person

Kinds of Domicile
 In Caraballo v. Republic, 4 SCRA 1055 (1962), a person is deemed a
resident of a place in a country or sate where he has his abode and lives
there permanently. It is a place chosen by him freely and voluntarily,
although he may later on change his mind and live elsewhere. Actual or
physical presence or stay of a person in a place not of his free and
voluntary choice and without intent to remain there indefinitely, does not
make him a resident of the place. Looking after the welfare of a minor to
be adopted the law has surrounded him with the safeguards to achieve
and insure such welfare. It cannot be gainsaid that an adopted minor may
be removed from the country by the adopter, who is not a resident of the
Philippines, and placed beyond the reach and protection of the country of
his birth.
 In De La Vina v. Villareal and Geopano, 41 Phil. 13 (1920), the Court
ruled that the general principle of law, that the domicile of the wife follows
that of the husband. But in modern laws it is clear that many exceptions to
the said rule can be obtained. The wife may acquire another and separate
domicile from that of her husband where the theoretical unity of husband
and wife is dissolved, as it is by institution of divorce proceedings; or where
the husband has given cause for divorce; or where there is a separation of
parties by agreement, or a permanent separation due to the desertion of the
wife by the husband or attributable to a cruel treatment on the part of the
husband; or where there has been a forfeiture by the wife of the benefit of
the husband’s domicile.