‘Dual citizen is 100 percent Filipino,’ says SEC’s Amatong

MANILA, Philippines — For the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), dual citizens are considered to be 100 percent Filipinos.

During the House committee on legislative franchises and the committee on good government and public accountability on Monday, SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong was asked about the commission’s interpretation of dual citizenship.

This, as the questions regarding the citizenship of ABS-CBN Chairman Emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III were being tackled as a part of the network’s bid for a 25-year franchise.

“Our interpretation of the dual citizenship law has been similar to that of the Department of Justice. So, interpretation of R.A. 9225 is that a dual citizen is 100 percent Filipino, ‘yan po ang yung current interpretation namin (that is our current interpretation) so that we don’t look anymore at this point at the foreign citizenship of the shareholder, officer or director,” Amatong said.

Republic Act 9225 is the “Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003”.

“A dual citizen, dun sa pag-analyze po namin (in our analysis), is essentially a Filipino and we don’t look anymore at his foreign citizenship with respect to his eligibility to perform acts or engaged in businesses reserved for Filipinos,” he added.

Under Article XVI, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, “the ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.”

This section of the law, however, does not explicitly state if dual citizens are allowed to own media entities.

Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar earlier said that the granting of confirmation of citizenship does not mean it “grants or perfects” citizenship.

To recall, Lopez applied for a recognition of his Filipino citizenship so that he could apply for a Philippine passport back in 2001.

“Sa pagbigay ng kumpirmasyon ng DOJ sa citizenship ni Mr. Gabby Lopez, hindi po ito pamamaraan ng pag-grant or pag-perfect ng citizenship, dahil po siya ay mayroong magulang na both father and mother na Filipino citizen kaya sa kanyang pagkapanganak siya ay isang Filipino citizen,” she said.

(The DOJ giving confirmation to the citizenship of Mr. Gabby Lopez is not a way of granting or perfecting his citizenship. Since both his father and mother are Filipino citizens, he was born a Filipino citizen.)