CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 Article 9 Nationality Equal rights of women and men to acquire, change or retain their nationality or that of their children A. SITUATION OF WOMEN 275. Under the 1987 Constitution Art. IV Sec. 1 (2), any child whose father and mother are citizens of the Philippines may be recognized as a Filipino citizen under existing laws. 276. The laws on nationality provide equal rights to Filipino women and men to acquire, change or retain their citizenship or that of their children. B. ACTIONS TAKEN 277. Much progress has been made in translating the constitutional provisions on non-discrimination of women in the acquisition, re-acquisition and retention of citizenship since the last periodic report. These policies and guidelines considered circumstances and instances where the nationality of Filipino women should be duly recognized and where they can reacquire their nationality. 278. With the passage of RA 8171, Filipino women and men who have lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to foreigners or on account of political or economic necessity (provided that s/he is not opposed to the organized government, not teaching or defending violence, and of good moral and mental standing), may come back to the Philippines to reacquire their citizenship. 279. In 1999, the Supreme Court, in its decision on an issue of dual citizenship, clarified that women and men may possess dual citizenship under the following circumstances: a. When they are born of Filipino fathers and/or mothers in foreign countries which follow the principle of jus soli; b. When they are born in the Philippines of Filipino mothers and alien fathers or Filipino fathers and alien mothers, if by the laws of their alien father or mother’s country, they are also considered citizens of that country; and c. When they marry a foreigner, and if by the laws of the husband/wife’s country, they are considered citizens of that country, unless by their act or omission they are deemed to have renounced their Filipino citizenship. 280. In 2003, the Philippine government passed a law (Republic Act 9225) that allows the retention and reacquisition of Filipino citizenship. The law declares that natural-born citizens of the Philippines who become citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship. 80