Lesson in citizenship

On the same day that the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US was suspended by Malacañang, congressmen were grilling Gabby Lopez, chairman emeritus of ABS-CBN, on his dual citizenship.

The President’s change of mind on the VFA and the hearing in the House are reflections of how tightly the USA and this country are bonded. Several years ago, when the then freshly arrived US ambassador held a press conference, the first thing he said was, “How many of you in this room have a relative or friend who is a citizen or resident of the United States?” The show of hands was 100 percent.

On the other hand, the ABS-CBN hearing, with masked congressmen throwing questions at Mr. Lopez, was a learning experience. I wanted my 14-year-old Beanie to watch the proceedings and pick up what she could because she was born in California when her father was a student there. As it turned out, Congressman Benny Abante told a similar story, his grandchild being also a PH-US dual citizen.

We’ve had a number of Constitutions and in every one of them the rights of citizens are as simply stated as they are considered sacred. In the 1987 Constitution, Article IV on citizenship contains only five short sections and occupies half a page.

Glued to the screen as I watched the congressmen manifesting and interpellating, the sense I got was that the authors of the Constitution wanted to keep the language clear and easy, unmuddled by big words in complex sentences, to ensure the plainest citizen’s grasp of the concept of statehood without ambiguity.

As a resource person invited by the committees on franchises and good government, DOJ Undersecretary Emelyn Aglipay Villar gave short, clear-cut answers. Without rambling or orating -- she was sure of her answers – she communicated the following points. A passport is not proof of citizenship, except when you’re traveling. You can be 100 percent Filipino and 100 percent American. (That’s you, Gabby and Beanie.) Should the need arise to authenticate your PH citizenship, you apply for a certification from the Bureau of Immigration, which will issue it for “any legal purpose it may serve.”

Let’s hope the next resource persons will be just as helpful.