Law

1. Citizenship Law

a. Jus Sanguinis Provisions

The citizenship law of the Philippines operates through a jus sanguinis structure with children born to a citizen parent or parents within or outside of the territory considered citizens.

b. Naturalized Citizenship

In March 2022, the Supreme Court of the Philippines introduced a new policy to facilitate and streamline the naturalization of stateless persons and refugees, an act supported by several UN agencies and representatives. The Rule on Facilitated Naturalization of Refugees and Stateless Persons, the first of its kind in the world, provides both a simplified and expedited naturalization procedure for stateless persons and refugees. Included in the Rule are provisions ensuring protection against discrimination for refugees and stateless persons and protecting family unity of refugees and stateless persons. A stateless person or refugee is eligible to apply for naturalized citizenship through this process if they have resided in the Philippines for at least 10 years, are financially stable, of good moral character, and can speak and write in one of the principal Philippine languages. Under the Rule, a joint petition may be filed by a refugee or stateless person together with his or her spouse and children. The Rule also provides that unaccompanied minors may apply for citizenship with the aid of governmental agencies, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or other relevant agencies. This is in line with the Philippines’s commitment to uphold children’s right to nationality under international agreements. It appears that no petition has yet been filed under the Rule as of May 2022, but it is said that more than 800 people are expected to benefit from it.

A reduced period of five years is available for those who are married to a Filipino, have introduced a new industry or invention to the Philippines, are a school teacher for at least two years, or were born in the Philippines. A person may be disqualified from this process if they are opposed to organized governments, endorse violence, are a polygamist, convicted of a morally compromising crime, suffering a “mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases”, have not socialized with Filipinos during their residence, or are a subject of a nation with which the Philippines is at war. Documents required for the application include a birth certificate, marriage certificate (if applicable), proof of recognition of refugee or stateless status, a moral endorsement from two Philippine citizens, among others.

c. Dual Citizenship

The right for Philippine citizens to maintain dual citizenship is available only to natural-born citizens who have earlier lost their Philippine citizenship by reason of acquisition of foreign citizenship. While the renunciation process for foreigners is not stipulated in legislation, the oath to be taken upon issuance of Certificate of Naturalization states that the foreign citizen relinquish allegiance to any foreign state.

2. Treaty Ratification Status

Following accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention in March 2022, Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia and one of only three countries in the entire Asia-Pacific to be party to all the relevant Statelessness, Refugee and Human Rights Conventions. While it is commendable that the Philippines has ratified all treaty bodies relating to statelessness, reservations were made to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The reservations are on Article 17(1), which ensures stateless persons equal rights as aliens in wage- earning employment and Article 31(1), which protects stateless persons lawfully residing in the territory from expulsion unless for national security reasons. On this, the Constitution disallows stateless persons from practicing their profession in the Philippines under the provisions which states, “the practice of all professions in the Philippines shall be limited to Filipino citizens”.

In 2023, the CERD Committee included in its concluding observations concerns over the “lack of comprehensive and reliable publicly available statistics on demographic composition of the population”, including for stateless persons. Further, the Committee also highlighted the concerning absence of protective legislation against statelessness, particularly regarding “unregistered children living in the context of forced displacement”. It was recommended that the Philippines improve civil and birth registration mechanisms in geographically remote and conflict-affected areas. In 2016 concluding observations by the CESCR Committee, the Committee expressed concerns regarding the lack of birth registration of indigenous children, Muslim children, and children of overseas Filipino workers. These concerns were echoed in the 2022 concluding observations by the CRC Committee, which expressed that while these affected children remain unregistered, they are at risk of “statelessness and deprivation of the right to a name and nationality and of access to basic services”. As a party to the CRC, the Philippines is obligated to ensure that every child’s birth is registered immediately as well as to ensure all children the right to acquire a nationality.

The Rule on Facilitated Naturalization of Refugees and Stateless Persons defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law,” which is directly aligned with the definition included in the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons. The Philippines is one of few countries in the entire Asia-Pacific region to have implemented a statelessness determination procedure having established the procedure in 2012. The Philippines introduced a National Action Plan to End Statelessness in 2015 based on UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness. Further, the Philippines declared the years 2015 to 2024 as the “Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Decade” as well as committed to universal birth registration.

Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in Southeast Asia

Country	Stateless 1	Stateless 2	Refugee	ICCPR	ICESCR	ICERD	CRC	CEDAW
Philippines

Signifies that the country is a party to the convention

Stateless 1 – 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention

Stateless 2 – 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

In the Plan, the Philippines shared its intentions to abide by the following action points:

Resolve existing situations of statelessness;
No child is born stateless;
Remove gender discrimination from nationality laws;
Grant protection status to stateless migrant and facilitate their naturalization;
Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness;
Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions;
Improve quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations.

Population

1. Reported Stateless Persons

The Philippines reported 267 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022, an increase of 7 persons since 2021. UNHCR has noted that this reported population reflects improved information on persons of Indonesian descent who have acquired nationality. The reported number also includes 11 stateless Rohingya refugees. The reported stateless persons were drastically higher before 2019, at 2,678 persons in 2017 and 1,068 persons in 2018 .

2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness

Six populations groups within the Philippines have been identified by the Philippines Government and a UNHCR supported mapping report as at risk of statelessness, including the indigenous sea-faring Sama Bajau, Persons of Indonesian Descent (the status of most of this population group has been resolved in recent years), foundlings, unregistered children who have been forcibly displaced due to armed conflict and persons of Japanese descent.

3. Stateless Refugee

In 2021 there were 5 reported stateless refugees in the Philippines, all of whom were Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR

Country	2019 (year start)	2020 (year end)	2021 (year end)	2022 (year end)
Philippines	383	387	260	267

Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022.

4. Undetermined Nationalities

One notable population of Filipinos reside outside of the Philippines but are unable to confirm their citizenship status. This including as many as 55,000-97,000 residents of Sabah as well as migratory workers in Gulf countries who while largely entitled to citizenship under the jus sanguinis law of the Philippines yet are unable to prove their connection to the country.

5. The Philippines’ Pledges to End Statelessness

At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines pledged its commitment to the “protection of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Sabah, through inter-[National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) Memoranda of Understanding (MoU)] on Statelessness”. The inter-NHRI MoU on Statelessness seeks to improve “policy and operational frameworks to ensure protection of the rights of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Sabah through cooperation between the National Human Rights Institutions of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines”. It is also intended to enhance coordination and cooperation between the “Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, as an independent NHRI, and the Government of the Philippines in addressing issues of statelessness in Sabah with a human rights-based approach”.

The Government of the Philippines also submitted the below pledges during the High-Level Segment on Stateless in October 2019 where it committed:

To enhance the policy, legal, and operational framework for stateless persons to ensure their full access to rights as guaranteed by the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons including their facilitated naturalization and as may be provided by national laws.
To improve access of vulnerable and marginalized populations to documentation through birth and civil registration.
To continue the study of statelessness, with a thrust to improve qualitative and quantitative data on populations at risk of statelessness in the Philippines and among its nationals, in continuation of efforts initiated in 2011.
To continue the process of accession to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
To continue leadership in Southeast Asia in the development of a human rights framework and provide technical support to other States in dealing with issues relating to stateless persons.
To cooperate with UNHCR by supporting projects, continuing fund contributions, and by building or expanding partnerships.

So far, the Philippines has been successful in ratifying the 1961 Convention on statelessness.

Causes of Statelessness

1. Discriminatory Nationality Laws

A population affected by statelessness in the Philippines are persons of Japanese descent who were born in the Philippines between the 1930’s and 1970’s (as well as their descendants). Previous discriminatory barriers that existed in the citizenship law of the Philippines limited the ability of Filipino mothers to transfer their nationality to their children that were born to Japanese fathers. Children were also unable to gain Japanese citizenship as administrative procedures requiring household registration were not met due to the impact of the Second World War (including the death of their father or deportation). The statelessness of this population has since been largely resolved. In August 2023, the Philippine government waived the fines (at times amounting to tens of thousands of dollars) previously imposed on the group as a result of decades of being deemed illegal residents, which have prevented many nikkei-jins, especially of the older generation, from being able to travel to Japan. As of September 2023, it is estimated that around 400-500 second generation nikkei-jins may still be left in the Philippines. Surveys and interviews for nikkeijins’ Japanese citizenship acquisition are planned to be conducted in early 2024.

Currently, there are calls to review Commonwealth Act No. (CA) 473 or the Revised Naturalization Law which provides for what is known as “derivative naturalization”. Under this law, any woman who is married to a citizen of the Philippines and who might herself be lawfully naturalized shall be deemed a citizen of the Philippines. Hence, an alien woman marrying a Filipino, native born or naturalized, becomes a Filipina by operation of law provided she is not disqualified to be a citizen of the Philippines under Section 4 of CA 473. Likewise, an alien woman married to an alien who is subsequently naturalized here follows the Philippine citizenship of her husband the moment he takes his oath as a Filipino citizen, provided that she does not suffer from any of the disqualifications under said Section 4. Therefore, foreign women who are married to Philippine citizens do not need to prove that they possess other qualifications for naturalization at the time of their marriage nor do they have to submit themselves to judicial naturalization. There does not appear to be any law granting similar ability for Philippine women to confer nationality to a foreign spouse.

2. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against
Childhood Statelessness

In May 2022, the Philippines introduced a law providing that foundlings discovered in the Philippines and/or in Philippine embassies, consulates and territories abroad are to be presumed natural-born Filipino citizens. This law can have a notable impact due to its retroactive application on thousands of children registered as foundlings in the years prior to the enactment. As of December 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority has recorded 6,580 certificates of foundlings. Given the retroactive nature of the foundling law, this would mean that at least 6,580 formerly stateless children are now considered natural-born citizens.

On September 9, 2022, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary, Erwin T. Tulfo, and the National Authority for Child Care Undersecretary led the signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11767 or the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act. The IRR Act institutionalizes the process and mechanism to be followed once a foundling is discovered. Under the measure, diligent and exhaustive efforts must be undertaken in determining the foundling’s facts of birth and parentage through inter-agency cooperation and the use of quad-media. The IRR Act also recognizes foundlings as presumed natural-born citizens, and, thus, accorded all the inherent rights of being a Filipino, including the benefit of expedited adoption. However, there remains to be no explicit protection for stateless children (who are not foundlings) born in the Philippines to access citizenship through administrative proceedings, which are deemed to be much simpler, inexpensive, and more expeditious.

3. Citizenship Stripping

While the citizenship status of the majority of the population has been largely resolved, it has been reported that there remains a small number of persons of Indonesian descent who resided in the Philippines and were stripped of their Indonesian citizenship. Under the operation of Indonesia’s Law of the Republic of Indonesia on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia (2006), persons residing outside of Indonesia for a period of more than five years without registration lost their Indonesian citizenship (with no inbuilt protection from statelessness). In 2006, Indonesia’s citizenship law was reformed to make sure that statelessness would no longer occur in this way and to offer those who had lost Indonesian nationality a way to reacquire it. However, a mapping study conducted by UNHCR and the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines in 2012 and 2013 revealed that more than 6,000 people of Indonesian descent still had undetermined nationality in the southern Philippines. The status of almost all identified population has been resolved, still leaving as many as 4,000 persons not reached or identified yet for the mapping of their citizenship status.

4. Administrative Barriers

Administrative and practical barriers to accessing birth registration have placed as many as 130,000 Sama Bajau (Bajut Laut) community members at risk of statelessness. As noted previously in our Malaysia chapter, the sea-faring populations’ semi-nomadic lifestyle and residence across the borders of multiple countries combined with their lack of civil registration documentation places them at risk of statelessness. Birth registration rates have been recorded to be as low as 38% in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao – compared to the reported national rate of 92% as of 2017 — with children in this region, especially those displaced due to armed conflict in the region at risk of statelessness. It must be noted that birth registration is not a mode of acquiring citizenship. Birth registration is evidence of citizenship. Birth certificates are accorded high evidentiary value and are a vital marker of identity3011, especially citizenship acquired by birth.

Philippine law provides that acts and events concerning the civil status of persons, including birth and nationality, must be recorded in the civil register, through the local civil registrar. Birth is registered upon the declaration of the physician or midwife in attendance at the birth or, in default thereof, the declaration of either parent of the newborn child. Such declaration is sent to the local civil registrar not later than 30 days after the birth, by the physician, or midwife in attendance at the birth or by either parent of the newly born child. One of the facts declared by such persons and contained in a birth certificate issued upon registration is the infant’s nationality. Upon registration, the local civil registrar issues the birth certificate, which already contains information regarding a person’s nationality, rather than a separate citizenship certificate. Birth registration is a prerequisite in acquiring a certification of a person’s citizenship, i.e., the birth certificate.

Philippine citizenship may be determined by birth on the basis of blood relationship. The Philippine Constitution provides that those whose father or mother are citizens of the Philippines or those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority, are Filipino citizens. A prima facie proof of a person’s filiation is his or her birth certificate. Therefore, while birth registration may not be vital in acquiring citizenship, it is a piece of supporting evidence of acquiring citizenship. Consequently, children with unregistered births are at risk of being stateless due to lack of evidence as to proof of their filiation.

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