Section 1. Special Committee on Naturalization. – The Special Committee on Naturalization, hereinafter referred to as the “Committee”, shall be composed of: (1) the Solicitor-General, as Chairman; (2) the Secretary of Foreign Affairs or his duly authorized representative; and (3) the National Security Adviser, as members. The Committee shall have its principal office at the Office of the Solicitor-General. The Committee shall meet, as often as practicable, to consider applications for naturalization.

Section 2. Secretariat of the Committee; Functions. – Immediately upon the effectivity of these Implementing Rules and Regulations, the Committee shall meet in order to establish a Secretariat which shall have the following functions: (a) to receive all papers filed with the Committee and cause the publication of those matters required by law; (b) to receive all fees paid by applicants; (c) to record all the proceedings of the Committee; (d) to keep and maintain all the books necessary for the recording of such papers and documents; (e) to notify applicants of the progress of their applications and such other developments as may arise in the course of the evaluation; and (f) to perform such other functions as may be required by the Committee.

Section 3. Power to Approve, Deny or Reject Applications; Unanimous Vote Required. – The Committee shall have the power to approve, deny or reject applications for naturalization as provided in R. A. No. 9139, hereinafter referred to as the “Act”. To approve petitions for naturalization, the vote of all three (3) members shall be required.  In meeting to consider petitions for naturalization, however, the presence of two (2) members shall constitute a quorum. When only two (2) members were present in the meeting, the following are required in order to consider the petition for naturalization approved:

(1) the affirmative vote of the two (2) members present during the meeting; and

(2) the submission of the written affirmative vote of the absent member, accompanied by his certification that he has considered and reviewed the minutes of the meeting wherein the pertinent petition was considered, together with all relevant and material information. The written affirmative vote and certification shall be submitted by the absent member within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the minutes of the pertinent meeting.

Section 5. Where Filed; Processing Fee. – Any person who has all of the qualifications under Section 3 of the Act and none of the disqualifications under Section 4 thereof may file a petition for naturalization with the Secretariat of the Committee, upon the payment of the processing fee of Forty thousand pesos (P40,000.00). Thereafter, the petition shall be stamped to indicate the date of filing and a corresponding docket number.

Section 6. Number of Copies of Petition. – The petition for naturalization shall be filed in five (5) copies, signed, thumbmarked on each and every page and verified by the petitioner, legibly typed, and with the latter’s passport size photograph (colored with white background) attached to each copy of the petition.

Section 7. Contents of Petition for Naturalization. – The petition for naturalization shall set forth the following:

(a) The petitioner’s name, surname, middle name, nickname, and any other name he/she has used or by which he/she is known;

(b) The petitioner’s present and all former places of residences, if any;

(c) The petitioner’s place and date of birth, the complete names and citizenship of his/her parents, both natural and adopting, if any, and their residences;

(d) The petitioner’s trade, business, profession or occupation, and if married, also that of his/her spouse, and children, if any;

(e) The petitioner’s civil status, whether single, married, legally separated, or widowed. If married or widowed, petitioner shall state the date and place of marriage, and the name, date of birth, birthplace, citizenship, and residence of the spouse. If petitioner is legally separated or the marriage was annulled, the date of the decree of legal separation or annulment, and the court which granted the same. If petitioner is widowed, the date and place of death of his/her spouse;

(f) If petitioner has a child/children, whether legitimate, illegitimate, or adopted, the name/s, date/s of birth, birthplace/s, residence/s, and school/s where such child/children received primary and secondary education;

(g) A declaration specifying in detail that petitioner possesses all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under the Act;

(h) A declaration that petitioner shall never be a public charge; and

(i) A declaration that it is the petitioner’s true and honest intention to acquire Philippine citizenship and to renounce absolutely and forever any prince, potentate, State or sovereign, and particularly the country of which the petitioner is a subject.

a) The duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s birth certificate;

b) The duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s alien certificate of registration and native-born certificate of residence;

c) The duplicate original or certified photocopies of petitioner’s marriage certificate, if married, or the death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed, or the court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact;

d) The duplicate original or certified photocopies of birth certificates, alien certificates of registration or native-born certificates of residence, if any, of petitioner’s minor children, if any;

e) Affidavit of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties;

f) Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner’s place of residence, attesting to the following: (a) the good moral character of petitioner; (b) that they have personally known petitioner for a period of at least ten (10) years; and
(c) that in their opinion, the petitioner has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to become a citizen of the Philippines, and not in any way disqualified under the provisions of the Act;

g) A medical certificate that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease;

h) School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner in the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines. Should the petitioner have minor children, a certification that his or her children are enrolled in private or public school/s duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (“DECS”), where Philippines history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum, and enrollment in said school/s is not limited to any race or nationality; and

i) If gainfully employed, petitioner’s income tax returns for the past three (3) years.

Section 10. Mandatory Publication and Posting Requirements. – If the petition is complete, the Committee shall inform petitioner of such fact.  Thereafter, the Committee, upon receipt from the petitioner of the amount necessary to pay for the publication expenses, shall immediately cause the publication of pertinent portions of the petition, indicating the name, qualifications, and other personal circumstances of the applicant, once a week, for three (3) consecutive weeks in a duly accredited newspaper of general circulation, and have copies of the entire petition posted in any public or conspicuous area.

The Committee shall immediately furnish the Department of Foreign Affairs (“DFA”), the Bureau of Immigration (“BI”), the civil registrar of the of the petitioner’s place of residence, and the National Bureau of Investigation (“NBI”) with copies of the petition and its supporting documents. These agencies shall have the copies of the petition posted in any public or conspicuous area in their buildings, offices and premises, and shall, within thirty (30) days from receipt of the petition, submit to the Committee a report stating the following:

(a) The Compliance with the posting requirement under the Act; and

(b) The presence or absence of any derogatory record on file or any such relevant and material information which might adversely affect petitioner’s application for citizenship.

Section 12. Interview. – The Committee may call the petitioner and/or his witnesses for an interview to ascertain petitioner’s identity, the authenticity of the petition and its annexes, and to determine the truthfulness of the statements and declarations made in the petition and its annexes.

If the Committee shall have received any information adverse to the petition, the Committee shall advise petitioner of said information and allow the petitioner to answer, explain or refute the information under oath in writing within the period prescribed by the Committee.

Section 13. Decision of the Committee. – After the review of the petition or the conduct of the interview, the Committee, based on the facts and documents before it, shall approve or disapprove the petition, and henceforth notify the petitioner of its decision.

Section 14. Disapproval of Petition. – If the Committee disapproves the petition, it shall set forth the factual and/or legal bases for the disapproval, and notify petitioner thereof.

Section 15. Approval of Petition; Payment of Naturalization Fee. – Within thirty (30) days from receipt of notice of approval of the petition, the petitioner shall pay the Committee, through its Secretariat, a naturalization fee in the amount of One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), which may be paid in full or as follows: Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) within the aforesaid thirty-day period.

Within sixty (60) days from approval of the petition and full payment of the naturalization fee, the petitioner shall take his or her oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines. After petitioner takes his oath, the Committee shall forthwith issue a Certificate of Naturalization and the oath of allegiance. The Committee shall immediately furnish the BI with a copy of the petitioner’s oath of allegiance. A copy of his oath will be kept in the records of the Committee.

Should the applicant fail to take his oath of allegiance within the time provided herein, the approval of the petition for naturalization shall be deemed abandoned.

Section 16. Duty of the Secretariat. – Within five (5) days after the issuance of the Certificate of Naturalization, the Secretariat shall forward a copy of the Certificate of Naturalization to the BI and to the proper local civil registrar.

Section 17. Status of Alien Wife and Minor Children. – After the approval of the petition for administrative naturalization and cancellation of petitioner’s alien certificate of registration, petitioner’s alien lawful wife and minor children may file a petition for the cancellation of their alien certificates of registration with the Committee subject to the payment of the filing fee of Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) and naturalization fee or Forty thousand pesos (P40,000.00) for each individual payable as follows: Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) upon taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.

Section 18. Status of Alien Husband and Minor Children. – If the applicant is a married woman, the approval of her petition for administrative naturalization will not benefit her alien husband but her minor children may file a petition for cancellation of their alien certificates of registration with the BI subject to the payment of the fees prescribed in Section 17 hereof.

Section 19. Revocation of the Certificate of Naturalization. – The Committee may revoke or cancel the Certificate of Naturalization issued under the Act, motu proprio or upon complaint by any person, after due notice and summary hearing, in the following cases:

(a) If the Committee finds that the naturalization person or his duly authorized representative made any false statement or misrepresentation or committed any violation of law, rules and regulations in connection with the petition for naturalization, or if he otherwise obtains Philippine citizenship fraudulently or illegally;

(b) If the naturalized person or his wife, or any of his minor children who acquired Philippine citizenship by virtue of his naturalization shall, within five (5) years next following the grant of Philippine citizenship, establish permanent residence in a foreign country, that individual’s certificate of naturalization or acquired Philippine citizenship shall be revoked: Provided, That the fact of such person’s remaining for more than one (1) year in his country of origin, or two (2) years in any foreign country, shall be considered prima facie evidence of intent to permanently reside herein;

(c) If the naturalized person or his wife who acquired citizenship allows himself or herself to be used as a dummy in violation of any constitutional or legal provision requiring Philippine citizenship as a condition for the exercise, use or enjoyment of any right, franchise or privilege; and

(d) If the naturalized person or his wife or child who acquired Philippine citizenship commits any act inimical to national security.

Section 21. Special Circumstances. – Any person who failed to register his/her birth with the concerned city or municipal civil registrar may, within two (2) years from the effectivity of the Act, file a petition for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship, subject to the requirements under the Act and these implementing rules and regulations.

(Sgd.) TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs

(Sgd.) ROILO S. GOLEZ
National Security Adviser

(Sgd.)  SIMEON V. MARCELO
Solicitor General
 

Interested parties may apply at the Office of the Solicitor General, 134 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, Metro Manila, upon effectivity of the above rules and regulations.