17 April 2006 — Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Consulate, pursuant to its mandate within the provisions of Republic Act 9225 (Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Law of 2003), administered the oaths of Filipino citizenship to over a hundred former Filipinos on 7 April 2006.

Consul General Sanchez said that the former Filipinos present were proud to reacquire their Filipino citizenship and become Filipinos once more.

“There are many advantages to becoming a dual citizen and no discernible disadvantages. For instance one would be able to register and become an overseas absentee voter and play a direct hand in the 2007 elections. By being a Filipino citizen you again have the right to travel with a Philippine passport.  It would also be easier for a dual citizen to invest in property in the country and retire to the motherland as opposed to one who was once a Filipino but is now solely an American citizen,” the Consul General said in her remarks during the ceremony.

“Among the common questions asked by those thinking about becoming dual citizens is ‘will the Philippine government tax us on our income?’ The answer to that is no. The Philippine government will only tax you for income derived from business conducted in the Philippines, earnings generated here in the United States will not be taxed,” she added.

Consul General Sanchez reported that among the many oath takers was Mr. Leo Nadal, a Filipino-American who plans to a build a luxury hotel in Aklan. He is an engineer and his wife is a nurse, and they both plan to retire in the Philippines and start a new life.

“The story of Mr. and Mrs. Nadal is very inspiring, in the sense that there is now this reverse migration going on wherein our best and brightest people are coming back home to help in the development of our motherland,” the Consul General remarked.

“I hope that our other kababayans who have yet to take advantage of the Dual Citizenship law will come to the Consulate and apply, for it is truly an honor and a privilege to be called a Filipino,” she added.

The Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Law of 2003 mandates Philippine foreign service posts to administer the oath of citizenship based on the “Oath of Allegiance.”  The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco holds the oath-taking ceremony every Friday  at 3:00 p.m. at the Philippine Center Social Hall. (Please refer to the accompanying photo release on this subject matter.) END