A Philippine legal article on citizenship by blood, loss and reacquisition, and the status of children.

I. Introduction

In Philippine law, citizenship is not just a personal status; it determines political rights, land ownership eligibility, and access to public office. A recurring question among Filipino families abroad is:

If a parent was once a natural-born Filipino but later became a foreign citizen, does their child remain (or become) a natural-born Filipino citizen?

The short legal answer is: it depends on when and how the child was born, and on the parents’ citizenship at that time. The longer answer requires unpacking constitutional definitions, the principle of jus sanguinis (citizenship by blood), statutory rules on loss/reacquisition, and their effects on children.

II. Governing Legal Framework

A. 1987 Constitution, Article IV (Citizenship)

Section 1 lists who are Filipino citizens, including:

Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of the Constitution;
Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship;
Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

Section 2 defines natural-born citizens:

Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.

This definition is the anchor for deciding whether a child is “natural-born.”

B. Principle of Jus Sanguinis

The Philippines follows jus sanguinis, meaning:

Citizenship flows from parent to child by blood, not by place of birth.
If either parent is Filipino at the time of the child’s birth, the child is a Filipino citizen from birth.

C. Commonwealth Act No. 63 (Loss and Reacquisition of Citizenship)

CA 63 provides that Philippine citizenship is lost by, among others:

Naturalization in a foreign country
Express renunciation

It also provides routes to reacquire citizenship (later expanded by RA 9225).

D. Republic Act No. 9225 (Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003)

RA 9225 allows natural-born Filipinos who lost citizenship by foreign naturalization to reacquire Philippine citizenship by taking an oath to the Republic.

Key legal effects:

The parent becomes a Filipino citizen again (while also retaining foreign citizenship, i.e., dual citizenship).
Their unmarried children below 18 are “derivative citizens” upon the parent’s reacquisition.

III. Core Question, Split Into Scenarios

To know whether the child is still or becomes natural-born, you must locate the child in one of these timelines.

Scenario 1: Child Born Before the Parent Lost Philippine Citizenship

Rule: If at the child’s birth either parent was Filipino, the child is Filipino from birth.

Effect:

The child is natural-born Filipino, because citizenship was automatic at birth.
The parent’s later loss of citizenship does not strip the child of Filipino citizenship.

Why: Citizenship is determined at birth under Article IV, Sec. 1(2). Later events affecting the parent do not retroactively change the child’s status.

Practical consequences:

Even if the child holds another nationality, they are typically considered dual citizens by birth (depending on foreign law).
They may need to recognize or confirm citizenship for documentation, but no “act to acquire” is required, so they remain natural-born.

Scenario 2: Child Born After the Parent Lost Philippine Citizenship (Parent Still Foreign at Birth)

Here the parent is no longer Filipino when the child is born.

Rule: Because the Philippines uses jus sanguinis, a child born when neither parent is Filipino is not Filipino at birth, even if the parent used to be Filipino.

Effect:

The child is not a natural-born Filipino at birth.
They are, legally, a foreigner at birth under Philippine law.

Important: The phrase “former natural-born Filipino” has no automatic transmission effect to children born after citizenship was lost. Bloodline matters only if citizenship exists at the time of birth, not historically.

Scenario 3: Parent Reacquires Philippine Citizenship Under RA 9225 After Child’s Birth

This is the most common modern case.

Rule: When a natural-born Filipino parent reacquires citizenship, their unmarried children below 18 automatically become Filipino citizens (derivative citizenship).

Effect on the child:

The child becomes a Filipino citizen from the date of the parent’s reacquisition, not from birth.
Because they had to benefit from a statutory mechanism (RA 9225), they are not natural-born under Article IV, Sec. 2.

Why not natural-born? They were not citizens from birth; citizenship attached later through a legal act (the parent’s oath, and the law’s derivative clause).

Status label: They are Filipino citizens by derivative reacquisition, not natural-born.

Scenario 4: Child Is Already 18 or Older When Parent Reacquires Citizenship

Rule: Derivative citizenship under RA 9225 applies only to unmarried children below 18.

Effect:

The child does not automatically become Filipino.
They must use another legal route (recognition if eligible, naturalization, or if they qualify under other provisions).

Natural-born? Almost always no, because any route they take will require an act to acquire citizenship.

IV. Special Constitutional and Historical Nuances

A. Children Born Before 1973 to Filipino Mothers

Under the 1935 Constitution, citizenship by jus sanguinis was recognized primarily through the father. If the child was:

born before January 17, 1973,
of a Filipino mother and alien father,
and did not have Filipino citizenship automatically,

they could become Filipino if they formally elected Philippine citizenship upon reaching majority.

Natural-born status? No. The election is an act to perfect citizenship, so they are not natural-born.

(But this category is now rare and mostly historical.)

B. Illegitimate Children

Philippine law generally treats illegitimate children as following the citizenship of the mother, because filiation in law is more directly established.

So if:

the mother was still Filipino at birth → child natural-born Filipino;
the mother had already lost citizenship at birth → child not Filipino at birth.

C. Adoption

Adoption does not confer natural-born citizenship automatically. A foreign-born child adopted by Filipinos generally remains a foreigner unless citizenship is acquired through specific statutory mechanisms.

V. What Counts as “Natural-Born” in Practice?

A. Proof vs. Acquisition

A key distinction:

Acquisition means performing an act to become Filipino.
Proof/recognition means providing documents to show you already were Filipino at birth.

If a child was Filipino at birth (Scenario 1), filing papers later is merely evidentiary. That still keeps them natural-born.

B. Common documents to establish natural-born status

Parent’s Philippine birth certificate
Parent’s Philippine passport valid at the time of birth
Child’s birth certificate showing Filipino parent
Report of Birth (for children born abroad)

These documents don’t create citizenship; they prove it.

VI. Implications of Each Status

A. Political Rights

Natural-born citizens may hold offices requiring natural-born status (e.g., President, Vice-President, Senators, Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, Constitutional Commissions).
Non-natural-born citizens (naturalized/derivative) are disqualified from those natural-born-only posts.

B. Land Ownership and Business

Both natural-born and non-natural-born Filipinos are citizens and can generally own land. However, former natural-born citizens who remain foreign may own land only under limited constitutional/statutory exceptions. Children’s status matters for inheritance planning.

C. Dual Citizenship

The Philippines allows dual citizenship under RA 9225. A child who is natural-born Filipino and also a foreign citizen by birth is a dual citizen by birth, not by reacquisition.

VII. Quick Rules of Thumb

Was the parent Filipino on the child’s birth date?
- Yes → child Filipino from birth → natural-born.
- No → child not Filipino from birth.
Did the child become Filipino only because the parent reacquired under RA 9225?
- Yes → citizen but not natural-born.
Was the child already 18 when the parent reacquired?
- No derivative citizenship → child must apply separately.

VIII. Conclusion

A child’s natural-born status does not depend on whether a parent used to be Filipino. It depends on whether the parent was Filipino at the time of the child’s birth.

If a parent was still Filipino when the child was born, the child is a natural-born Filipino citizen, and the parent’s later foreign naturalization does not change that.
If the parent had already lost Philippine citizenship when the child was born, the child is not Filipino at birth, even if the parent had been natural-born before.
If the parent later reacquires Philippine citizenship under RA 9225, the child may become Filipino derivatively if under 18 and unmarried, but they are not natural-born because citizenship was not theirs from birth.

In short: natural-born citizenship is fixed at birth, unless the Constitution itself required an election. RA 9225 gives citizenship back—but it cannot rewrite the past.

If you want, I can also draft a short FAQ version or a flowchart-style decision guide based on these rules.