CHAPTER VII I

THE NATIONALITY THEORY

EXAMPLES

 Art. 15 of the Civil Code

o Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status,

conditions and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens
of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

 Art. 16 of the Civil Code

o Intestate and testate succession, both with respect to the order of

succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the
instrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by
the national law of the person whose succession is under
consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and
regardless of the country where said property may be found.

 Art. 21 of the Family Code

o When either or both of the contracting parties are citizens of a

foreign country, it shall be necessary for them before a marriage
license can be obtained, to submit a certificate of legal capacity to
contract marriage, issued by their respective diplomatic or
consular officials. Stateless persons or refugees from other
countries shall, in lieu of the certificate of legal capacity herein
acquired, submit an affidavit stating the circumstances showing
such capacity to contract marriage.

 Art. 1039 of the Civil Code

o Capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the

decedent.

NATIONALITY THEORY

- Is the theory by virtue of which the status and capacity of an individual

are generally governed by the law of his nationality

- Principally adopted by the Philippines

 - Natonality

o Is membership is an ethnic, social, racial, and cultural group,

- Citizenship

o Is membership in a political society

Defects of Nationality Theory

1. Sometimes, change of nationality or citizenship is hard to effectuate: thus,

a person who may no longer wish the law of his country to follow him
whenever he may go

2. Some individual are STATELESS

3. Some individuals possessed of DUAL or MULTIPLE nationalities

4. It is not always desirable to apply to aliens their national law.

CITIZENS IN THE PHILIPPINES

a. Natural-Born citizens

- Those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to
perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippines citizenship (Art. IV,
Sec. 2, 1987 Philippine Constitution)

o Native Born Citizen

 One born in the country of which he is a citizen

b. Naturalized Citizens

- Citizens who are not natural-born citizens; those who become such
through judicial proceedings (Art. IV, Sec. 1(4), 1987 Philippine
Constitution)

c. Citizens by Election

- Citizens who by virtue of certain legal provisions, become such by

choosing (or electing) Philippine citizenship at the age of 21 or within a
reasonable time thereafter
 Theories in Determining Citizenship:

a. Jus Soli

 If both in a country, a person is a citizen of the same

b. Jus Sanguinis

 One follows the citizenship of his parents; this is citizenship

by blood

THE Problem of Dual and Multiple Nationalities

- Only a question revelant in the viewpoint of third state

- Art. Of Hague Convention on Conflict of Nationality Laws (1930)

 Any question as to whether a person possesses the

nationality of a particular state should be determined in
accordance with the law of the state.

- Example:

 A Chinese applicant for naturalization in the Philippines

had all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications.
However, the solicitor-general objected on the ground that
he had not previously obtained permission to renounce
Chinese citizenship from the Chinese ministry of the
interior, which permission was indispensible under the
Chinese law.

o In the case of Johnny Chaustinek vs. Republic,

the supreme Court pronounced that the
applicant can be naturalized, because in so
far as our country is concerned it is
insignificant that he disobeyed Chinese law.
What matters is his compliance with our
laws.

o Dual Citizenship? NO, in so far as Phil. Law,

Filipino. As to china, Chinese.

 See examples in the book

 Effective nationality
 o We apply the national laws of the deceased
insofar as they are inconsistent with or
identical with each other

o If the national laws are in conflict, we must

refer to the law of the domicile, to resove
conflict

- Modalities or ways in which the situation may arise:

a. Through a naturalized citizen’s failure to comply with

certain legal requirements in the country of origin

b. From a combined application of jus soli and jus sanguinis

c. By legislative act of states

d. By voluntary act of the individual concerned

Dual Allegiance of Citizens

- Frowned by the constitution

- Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be
dealt with by law.

THE Problem of Stateless Individuals

- A person becomes stateless:

a. He may have been deprived of his citizenship for any cause, such as
the commission of a crime.

b. He may have renounced his nationality by certain acts, express or

implied.

c. He may have voluntarily asked for a released from his original state;

d. He may have been born in a country which recognizes only the

principle of jus sangunis – citizenship by blood, of parents whose law
recognizes only the principle of jus soli – citizenship by birth in a
certain place. Thus, he is neither a citizen of the country where he is
born, now a citizen of the country of his parents.

Personal Law of Stateless individuals:

- Hague Conference of 1928 on International Private Law

 a. The law of the domicile (habitual residence)
b. Secondarily the law of the place of temporary residence.

SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS

- Under Art. 16 of the Civil Code, the rights to the succession of a person are
governed by his national law.

 Apply the law of the domicile

WHERE A DECLARATION OF PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP MAY BE MADE

- Cannot be validly made in an action for declaratory relief, or in summary

action for change or correction of Entries

- There is no independent action for declaration of the citizenship of an

individual

- Court can only judicially declare citizenship as incident only of

adjudication

Salient Cases:

- Lorenzo Lim and Juana Alvarez Lim vs. Dela Rosa, etc. L-17790, March 31,
1964

- Petition for correction of entry of certificate of birth of the minor, Chua

Tan Chuan, L-25439 March 28, 1969

CITIZENSHIP OF A FILIPINO WOMA WHO MARRIES A FOREIGNER

- Under the 1987 Constitution (Art. IV, Sec. 4)

 Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain

their citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are
deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.

CITIZENSHIP OF A FOREIGN WOMAN WHO MARRIES A FILIPINO

- Moy Ya Lim Yao vs. Commission on Immigration G.R. No. L-21289, 41

SCRA 292

 Sec. 15 of Com. Act. No. 473 (Revised Naturalization Law)

 An alien woman marrying a Filipino, native-born or

naturalized becomes ipso facto a Filipino provided she is
 not disqualified to be a citizen of the Philippines under Sec.
4 of the same law

 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 she does not suffer from any of the
disqualification under said Sec. 4.

CITIZENS OF THE PHILIPPINES