3. • Citizenship is more than having an af
fi
liation to a
certain country and government, in our case, the
Republic of the Philippines. It also entails that the
person is under the law of the country. This means
that as a citizen of the Philippines, you enjoy the
rights and privileges provided by the laws of the
country; however, you have responsibilities to take to
enjoy these rights and privileges.
• This lesson de
fi
nes citizenship, its value, how to
acquire it, and how to lose it. Provisions of the
Constitution on citizenship and rights of citizens are
also included to educate the students on their rights,
privileges, and responsibilities as Filipino citizens.
4. Practice
Write TRUE on the space provided if the statement presents a fact based on our law regarding
citizenship. Otherwise, write FALSE.
1.Mark’s mother is German while his father is Filipino; therefore, Mark is not considered as a
Filipino.
2. John Idle is an American and he wants to become a Filipino, but there is no way he can
become one.
3.Citizenship can never be lost.
4.Bea Cruz is a Filipino. When she married a Vietnamese, she automatically lost her Filipino
citizenship.
5.There are no natural-born Filipino citizens.
6. • There are basically two types of persons living
within the jurisdiction of the Republic of the
Philippines: (1) citizens and (2) aliens .
• Aliens are people who live within the territory of
the Philippines but “owe permanent allegiance to a
foreign country” (Ramirez 1969). They are not
entitled to vote or run for elections. They have
limited business capabilities, and they cannot
engage in professions like law and medicine, among
other restrictions. But the state provides them
protection by extending the civil rights guaranteed
by the constitution, provided that they also obey the
laws of the land and pay taxes (Ramirez 1969).
7. • A citizen meets the quali
fi
cations stated under
Section1, Article IV of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution, which are:
• [1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the
time of the adaption of this Constitution;
• [2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of
the Philippines;
• [3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of
Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship
upon reaching the age of majority; and
• [4] Those who are naturalized in accordance with
law.
8. • 1. Natural-born citizens - Filipino citizens from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire
citizenship, as well as those who choose Filipino
citizenship in accordance with paragraph 3 of
Section 1, Article IV; and
• 2. Naturalized citizens - aliens who became citizens
through naturalization or the legal act of adopting
alien and giving him the rights that belong to
natural-born citizens.
—There are two kinds of citizens based on the manner by which citizenship is
acquired:
9. • Citizenship can be acquired (Section 1[4], Article
IV) but it can also be lost in special circumstances
such as, but not limited to, express renunciation of
citizenship, and subscribing to an oath of allegiance
to a foreign country, and becoming a naturalized
citizen of another country.
• A Filipino citizen who marries and alien or
foreigner retains his/her Filipino citizenship unless
circumstances will prove that he/she renounced his/
her Filipino citizenship.
• While Aliens have limited rights, a citizen of the
country enjoys all the rights and privileges provided
under the law. One of the important rights enjoyed
by the citizens is the right of suffrage or the right to
vote and run for elections (provided that the citizen
is quali
fi
ed to participate in the elections as provided
by law). This means that citizens are capable of
participating in the government, that they have the
power to voice out their opinions, something that
aliens in the country cannot do.
10. • Other rights are incorporated in other laws but for
the purposes of this discussion, this lesson will refer
to the Constitution.
• Under the Philippine Constitution, Article III (Bill
of Rights) of the 1987 Constitution provides the
basic rights of Filipino citizens. All the provisions in
Article III can actually be divided into three
“fundamental rights” of the citizen, namely (1)
right to life, (2) right to liberty, and (3) right to
property ( Defensor -Santisgo 2002).
11. • Section 2. The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable
searches and seizures of whatever nature and any purposes
shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest
shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined
personally by the judge after examination under oath or
af
fi
rmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may
produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the persons or things to be seized.
• Section 7. The right of the people to information on matter
of public concern shall be recognized. Access to of
fi
cial acts,
transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research
data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the
citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.
—The following are some of the rights enumerated under Article III. Take time to
read others.
12. • Section 9. Private property shall not be taken for
public use without just compensation.
• Section 14. (1) No person shall not be held to
answer for a criminal offense without due process
of law.
• Section 17. No person shall be compelled to be a
witness against himself.
14. • There are also two fundamental clauses
incorporated in the bill of rights. The
fi
rst is the
“due process clause” which gives every citizen the
right to be noti
fi
ed and heard in court before any
of his or her rights ‘“be reduced or affected by any
action of the state” ( Defensor - Santiago 2002).
The second clause is the “equal protection clause”
which means that every person facing similar cases
must receive similar, although not necessarily
identical, treatment under the law ( Defensor-
Santiago 2002).
16. • The 1987 Constitution does not directly enumerate
the reponsibilities of a citizen. But the provisions of
the law actually provide us with the attached
responsibility of each right and privilege. For
example, under Section 1 of Article 3:
• No persons shall be deprived of life, liberty or
property without due process of law, nor shall any
person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
• Applied to one’s self, you have the right to life,
liberty or property as with everyone else and others
must respect your right. But the law is for everyone,
thus your classmate, teachers, family members ,and
neighbors have those rights so you must also respect
them in this sense.
17. Another general law of the country is the Civil Code of the Philippines. For the
purposes of this lesson we will refer to the Preliminary Title Part of the Civil Code.
Some of the provisions of the civil code are the following:.
• Article 3: Ignorance: of the law excuses no one
from compliance therewith; ( Maxim :
IGNORANTIA NON EXCUSAT)
• Article 4: Rights may be waived, unless the
waiver is contrary to law, public order, public
policy, morals, or good customs or prejudicial to
a third person with a right recognized by law;
CIVIL CODE OF THE
PHILIPPINES CHAPTER 1
Effects and Application of Laws
18. • Article 9: No judge or court shall decline
to render judgement by reason of the
silence, obscurity or insuf
fi
ciency of laws;
• Article 11: Customs which are contrary
to law, public order or public policy shall
not be countenanced;
• Article 15: Laws relating to family rights
and duties, or to the status, condition and
legal capacity of persons are binding
upon citizens of the Philippines, even
though living abroad;
• Article 16: Real property as well as
personal property is subject to the law of
the country where it is situated;
19. CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES CHAPTER 2:
Human Relations
• Article 19: Every person must, in the
exercise of his rights and in the performance
of his duties, act with justice, give everyone
his due, and observe honesty and good faith;
• Article 20: Every person who, contrary to
law, willfully or negligently causes damage to
another, shall indemnify the latter for the
same;
• Article 21: Any person who willfully causes
loss or injury to another in a manner that is
contrary to morals, good customs or public
policy shall compensate the latter for the
damage;
20. • Article 22: Every person who through an act of
performance by another, or any other means,
acquires or comes into possession of something at
the expense of the latter without just or legal
ground, shall return the same to him;
• Article 23: Even when an act or event causing
damage to another’s property was not due to the
fault or negligence of the defendant, the latter shall
be liable for indemnity if through the act or event
he was bene
fi
ted;
21. • Article 26: Every person shall respect the dignity,
personality, privacy and peace of mind of his
neighbors and other persons. The following and
similar acts, though they may not constitute a
criminal a criminal offense, shall produce a cause of
action for damages, prevention and other relief:
• 1. Prying into the privacy of another’s residence;
• 2. Meddling with or disturbing the private life or
family relations of another;
• 3. Intriguing to cause another to be alienated from his
friends; and
• 4. Vexing or humiliating another on account of his
religious beliefs, lowly station in life, place of birth,
physical defect, or other personal condition.
22. SCHOOL WORKS
Analyze the fictional cases on the next
page. Each case may have other implications,
and other laws may also apply but in the
context of the discussion, use only the
constitution and the civil code in examining
each case. Note the section of the law that
addresses the situation and give a brief
explanation on the space provided.
23. • Case 1. John Rei is used to bullying other students. He boasts of his father as a high-
ranking of
fi
cer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in
fl
icting fear to others.
• Case 2. Representative Aston
fi
lled a bill in Congress titled “An Act Providing
Special Powers to the Church as the Moral Guide and Authority of the Country to
Deter the Passage, Approval, and Implementation of a Law that Degrades the
Morality and Spirituality of the Filipino People.”
• Case 3. Barangay Secretary Rollon was accused of corruption. He was immediately
detained and interrogated. No lawyer was provided for him. After 12 hours of
detention, he was released and he found out that another person was already in his
position. His house was vandalized with “Rollin Corrupt.”
• Case 4. Miko and his friend created an association of drag racers but it was not
recognized by the barangay as well as the City Government because they violate the
existing Barangay and City Ordinates against drag racing on public highways, LTO
rules on vehicle registration, anti-smoke belching and pollution, among others. The
association members argue that it is their right to be recognized as an association.
24. • Case 5. During the graft and corruption case hearing against Mayor Uso, she was called to the witness
stand to be cross-examined. Most of the time, especially on questions regarding the acquisition of some
of her belongings, she only answered, “I invoke my right against self-incrimination.”
• Case 6. Norlando was caught having a marijuana plantation and making blocks of dried marijuana
leaves. During the interrogation, he claimed that he does not know about the laws stating the illegal
nature of his job.
• Case 7. There is an Organization appealing for the re-establishment of death penalty as punishment
for heinous crimes.
• Case 8. Marisa refused to vote in the elections.
• Case 9. Randy’s father is an Australian and his mother is a Filipina. Randy was also born in Australia.
He studied in the Philippines for his college degree and was later allowed to play in the Philippine
Basketball Association. However, some people question his citizenship due to his Australian roots.
• Case 10. In the Philippines, even idle lands are taxed. Fred hassle lands in another country where they
are not taxed. When Fred came for vacation in the Philippines, his neighbor accused him of not paying
taxes for the idle lands Fred has in another country. The barangay captain states that Fred is a Filipino
citizen; thus, he must also be subjected to the Philippine laws.
