Yasay citizenship a ‘non-issue,’ says Palace

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The citizenship of Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay is a “non-issue,” as he had already provided an explanation on the matter, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Questions over Yasay’s nationality cropped up during his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments, where he was asked about his application for naturalization as an American citizen.

“In effect, it’s a non-issue simply because Secretary Yasay has already explained the intricacies of what actually happened,” the President’s spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing.

“He was never ever a US citizen,” Abella added.

He cited Yasay’s explanation that he had fled to the United States during martial law, where he began the process to become a US citizen.

But before it could be completed, he returned to the Philippines and effectively dropped the process, he said.

“He was qualified or something like that but it had to be confirmed. It was never confirmed because he had already broken the process,” he said.

Unqualified

Yasay had told the Commission on Appointments that he had obtained a green card while in the United States and applied for naturalization.

He said his application was given due course, but he was not qualified because he had plans to return to the Philippines and abandon his US residency.

He also said he never lost his Filipino citizenship.

Yasay was one of the first officials whom President Duterte named to the Cabinet.

The two were roommates at the Young Men’s Christian Association when they took up law at different schools. Mr. Duterte attended San Beda College while Yasay studied at the University of the Philippines.

Mr. Duterte earlier said Yasay was supposed to return to the United States and leave his post, which may go to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano when the one-year ban on appointing losing candidates is lifted.

Yasay, though, had said he no longer had any obligations in the United States, but would leave it up to the President if he wanted him to remain in government.