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| OWNING LANDS IN THE PHILIPPINES |
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| By Atty. Simonette Sibal-Pulido | |
| Saturday, 31 January 2009 | |
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If you look around Metro Manila today, you will see a lot of real estate developments, from condominiums to houses in posh villages. With the decline in the purchasing power of the peso, and with almost 70% of the Philippine population living below the poverty line, real estate developers have started targeting the overseas Filipino workers who are earning in dollars and those former Filpinos who wish to retire or acquire investments in the Philippines. A year ago, I received an e-mail from an old classmate who is now a US citizen inquiring whether she can still purchase lands in the Philippines. I suppose there a lot of our readers who are in the same situation. This article is for you. Under our present laws, only Filipino citizens and corporations and associations at least 60% of whose capital is owned by Filipinos may acquire private lands. Filipinos who lost their Filipino citizenship by naturalization in other countries will remain the owners of any property they have acquired before changing nationalities. On the other hand, a natural-born Filipino citizen who has lost his Philippine citizenship may still purchase private land, subject to certain limitations and conditions. He /she can acquire either an urban land or rural land for residential purposes. If it is an urban land, the maximum area cannot not exceed 1000 square meters. If it is a rural land, the lot area cannot exceed 1 hectare. It is possible to buy two lots, whose combined area do not exceed the aforementioned limits provided that the lots are situated in different municipalities or cities anywhere in the Philippines. A former natural-born Filipino citizen may also validly acquire lands for business purposes. The limit for urban land is 5000 square meters, while the maximum area for rural land is three hectares. The land should be primarily, directly and actually used in the performance or conduct of the owner's business or commercial activities in the broad areas of agriculture, industry and services including the lease of land. If you wish to acquire more lands but have already lost your Filipino citizenship, you may re-acquire your citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines. This is now possible under Republic Act No. 9225 , otherwise known as the “Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003”. If you are in the United States, you can file a petition under oath to the nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate for evaluation. Thereafter, the Embassy or Consulate shall forward the entire records to the Commissioner of Immigration for the cancellation of the Alien Certificate of Registration and issuance of an Identification Certificate under RA 9225, as the case may be. (Please refer to the procedure for application below; reprinted from the Official Website of the Republic of the Philippines or go to www.gov.ph/faqs/dualcitizenship.asp). Once you re-acquire your Filipino citizenship, there is no limit in terms of area or size of land or real property you could acquire/purchase under your name. Filipinos who have dual citizenship, do not have to re-acquire your Filipino citizenship as they did not lose it in the first place. A dual citizen is one who has both Philippine citizenship as well as foreign citizenship not acquired through naturalization. For example: a child born of parents who are both Filipino citizens (at the time of birth) in a country that adheres to the jus soli principle (e.g., the United States) is a dual citizen. Jus soli (right of soil) is the legal principle that a person's nationality at birth is determined by the place of birth (i.e., the territory of a given state). Jus sanguinis (right of blood) is the legal principle that, at birth, an individual acquires the nationality of his/her natural parent/s. If, however, you wish to acquire a condominium unit only, you do not have to be a Filipino citizen to be able to do so. Foreigners are allowed to purchase a condominium unit in the Philippines, provided that total foreign ownership of the condominium corporation does not exceed 40%. What is the procedure in applying for citizenship re-acquisition and what documents are required in order to apply? (See www.gov.ph/faqs/dualcitizenship.asp) Applicant shall present a copy of his/her Birth Certificate issued or duly-authenticated by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Manila. (Note: Applicants can request for an authenticated birth certificate from the National Statistics Office on-line through the following website: www.ecensus.com.ph) In case of no records found, applicant must present a Certificate of Non-Availability of Birth Record from the NSO and other secondary documentary proof of being a former natural-born Filipino citizen (e.g. old Philippine passport, baptismal certificate, marriage certificate of applicant’s parents) Applicant accomplishes form entitled “Petition for Dual Citizenship and Issuance of Identification Certificate (IC) pursuant to RA 9225” and attaches three (3) 2”x2” photographs showing the front, left side and right side views of the applicant. Applicant submits duly-accomplished petition to the Philippine Consulate / Embassy together with the photos, birth certificate and a valid ID. (Note: Applicants who are married and who wish to use their married names must submit a copy of their marriage certificate). Applicant pays a processing fee of US$ 50.00 and is assigned a schedule for his/her oath of allegiance before a consular officer. Applicant takes his/her oath. Applicant is given the original copy of his notarized oath of allegiance together with an Order of Approval issued by the Philippine Consulate General. The Philippine Consulate General forwards to the Bureau of Immigration in Manila the petition, oath, order of approval, and other supporting documents for issuance of an Identification Certificate. The Bureau of Immigration issues an Identification Certificate (IC) and forwards it to the applicant through the Philippine Consulate General. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 31 January 2009 ) |
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