IMMIGRATION GUIDE (17)
A former Filipino citizen who is now a U.S. citizen (whom we shall call "expat" for the sake of brevity) announced: "I wants to become a dual citizen so can buy land in the Philippines." "Do you plan buy a hacienda?" I asked. "No, just a small piece of land in my hometown so I can build a house," he replied. "So, you want to impress your town mates that you have become successful in America," I riposted. He smiled. "You do not have to become a dual citizen to own land in your native land," I told him. "Really," he said, "I was told that I need to become one." That is the whole problem with many Filipinos. They give stupid advice and there are people who believe in their stupid advice. Here are the rules UNDER THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION An expat can acquire land by hereditary succession pursuant to Article XII, Section 7 of the Philippine Constitution. An expat can also acquire private lands pursuant to Article XII, Section 8 subject to the limitations provided by law. UNDER REPUBLIC ACT 8179 An expat can own land pursuant to the law which implemented Article XII, Section 8, namely, Republic Act No. 8179, approved on March 28, 1996, which amends the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, as follows: 1. Urban land - maximum of 5,000 square meters. What constitutes "urban land" is not defined. 2. Rural land - maximum of 3 hectares. What constitutes "rural land" is not defined. 3. Rural land cannot be used for "any" purpose. It can only be used for "business or other purposes." What does the statute mean by "other purposes"? The statute does not define "other purposes". Certainly it does not mean "any purpose" otherwise the statute would have said so. Under a rule of statutory construction known as ejusdem generis, if a statute contains an enumeration of specific words, followed by a general word like "others," the general word must be similar to the word or words specified. Following this rule, the "other purposes" must be similar to the specific word which is "business". Therefore, the question remains: Can you build a home where you intend to live on rural land? Maybe and maybe not. You would have to show that "living" is your "business." 4. If the expats are husband and wife, the total area that both may acquire cannot exceed the maximum areas specified in the law - 5,000 square meters if urban land and 3 hectares if rural land. In other words, a husband and wife are treated as one individual for purposes of acquiring land in the Philippines. Sounds like the "marriage penalty" under the U.S. income tax law. 5. If an expat already owns land in the Philippines, the area already owned by him shall be subtracted from the maximum area that he can acquire under the law. For example, if he obtained pursuant to this law rural land in Ilocoslovakia with an area of one hectare, he may acquire additional rural land but not exceeding two hectares. Why? Because the maximum allowable rural land that an expat can acquire is three hectares. Three hectares minus one hectare equals two hectares. 6. An expat cannot acquire more than two lots and they must be situated in different municipalities or cities. Furthermore, the total area acquired cannot exceed the maximum areas specified above in Items 1 and 2. So, if you want to buy lots for the use of your U.S. born children, you can only buy for two of them. Woe unto your other U.S. born children if you procreated more than two. Furthermore, your two children for whom you bought lots cannot live in the same town or city. Each of the lots must be situated in different municipalities or cities. Family unity, eh wot? 7. An expat who has already acquired urban land cannot acquire rural land. And an expat who has already acquired rural land cannot acquire urban land. In other words, you must decide whether you want to be a provinciano or a city dweller. You cannot have the best (or worst) of both worlds. There you have it. If they sound silly, don't blame me. I am only reporting the law. I did not make them. I could not believe them myself when I first read them. But I read and reread them. And the more I reread them, the more silly they sounded. We hope that you will be very happy to learn that you can own land in your native land without becoming a dual citizen? (Atty. Tipon is from Laoag City. He holds a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from U.P. He practices law and writes law books. Office: 905 Umi St., Suite 201, Honolulu, HI 96819. Tel. (808) 847-1601. E-mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Website: www.ImmigrationServicesUSA.com. Listen to our program on KNDI Honolulu radio 1270 AM on your radio dial every Friday morning between 6:30-8:00, sponsored by Citizen's Mortgage Co. This article is for general information only and is not intended as legal advice. It may not be cited as a precedent or authority. It does not create an attorney-client relationship.) |