Candidates with dual citizenship under the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003 or R.A. 9225 must make a personal and sworn renunciation of their foreign citizenship before they can run for public office.
A candidate for vice-mayor of Guimba, Nueva Ecija, for the May 2007 elections was being disqualified on the ground that he was not a Philippine citizen, but an immigrant and resident of the United States. In his answer, he admitted that he was a naturalized American. However, he obtained dual citizenship upon taking his oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines under R.A. 9225. Having re-acquired Philippine citizenship under said law, he argued that he was entitled to exercise his full civil and political rights, which includes the right to run for public office.
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