Citizen Singkit

I was recently asked to take part in a survey for an academic paper on Tsinoy attitudes on Philippines-China relations. We were asked questions like which side we were on in the West Philippine Sea dispute, and who we would cheer for in a basketball game between the two countries.

I take my citizenship seriously. I was naturalized (which means I cannot run for president) when I was four years old. Looking for my birth certificate recently in connection with applying for my UMID card, I dug into the back of my filing cabinet. My father had kept organized files, and the yellowed folders contained originals, plus photo negative copies (there was no xerox back then, so copies were made as negatives), of our birth certificates, even my mother’s from way back in 1924! My father had no birth certificate since he was born in Fujian, China.

There were also our naturalization papers – the petition, plus all kinds of certificates (some in Chinese, issued from Taipei, since this was way before we had diplomatic relations with Beijing), and finally the decree of naturalization and the oath of allegiance (which my father apparently took twice), and our identification cards as citizens of the Republic of the Philippines. My ID showed a cute little thing with a rice bowl haircut, a bona fide Filipino citizen.

While the decision to become a Filipino was made for me by my parents, I have absolutely no regrets about it. The Philippines has been, is and will be home to me; the country and its people have been good to me and my family, and to countless other Tsinoys whose ancestors landed on these fair shores. I am proud to be Tsinoy – Tsinong Pinoy, Chinese Filipino, the latter the noun, the former the adjective. I surely have the best of both worlds. 

Citizenship is in the spotlight as questions have been raised on the citizenship status (natural born or not) of one of the presidential candidates, as well as the citizenships of her spouse and children. The Supreme Court hasn’t settled the issue, handing down a decision that simply allowed her to run without ruling on the issues of citizenship status and residency, saying in effect that should she win, those issues can be taken up in a protest lodged before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. If that happens, what a confused and confusing state we would be in!

There is no question that she is a Filipino; the question is whether she is natural born. She is no longer an American, having officially renounced that citizenship; the problem is that if it is ruled that she is not natural born, she cannot re-acquire Filipino citizenship. This I learned from researching a cousin’s desire to re-acquire his Pinoy citizenship.

On whether her children would also renounce their being American, I respect her stand that she would let them decide; they are, after all, grown up. I really wonder though about her spouse’s renouncing his American citizenship before the chairman of a barangay in my fair city of San Juan – in Metro Manila, not California or Puerto Rico.   

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!   Romans 5:6-10