OVER a dozen Fil-foreign applicants for the upcoming PBA Rookie Draft have yet to complete their citizenship documents ahead of a league-imposed March 5 deadline.
And a number of them are high-profile names such as Jason Brickman and Jeremiah Gray, potential first-rounders if they make it to the final list.
Such a pity if these players, whose claim to Filipino lineage is undisputed, won't catch the bus and make it to draft day, sparking calls for the PBA to amend its rules when it comes to the documents Fil-foreigners need to furnish for eligibility purposes.
Right now, the league considers anyone born outside the country, regardless if his parents hold Filipino citizenship by the time of his birth, as a Fil-foreigner subject to the eligibility rules governing players holding dual citizenships.
[See Fil-foreign prospects who have yet to secure citizenship papers]
But one has to consider that different nations have different set of rules of law when it comes to citizenship.
The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand observe jus soli or "right of soil," meaning that anyone born in the territory is considered as its citizen, which affects majority of the Fil-foreign applicants in this year's pool.
Not all overseas nations acknowledge citizenship by birthright, though.
Other nations, like the Philippines, adhere to the principle of jus sanguinis or "right of blood." That means anyone whose parents are full-fledged Filipinos upon their birth are considered citizens, regardless of where they are born.
That, however, isn't enough in the PBA which considers anyone born outside the Philippines as a Fil-foreigner.
As such, they are required to furnish two documents: the Certificate of Recognition as Filipino Citizen and the Affirmation of Recognition as Filipino Citizen.
Those papers, to be secured from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI), have been in place since the days of former commissioners Jun Bernardino and Noli Eala in the 2000s.
But the undue delays in securing these pertinent documents have doubled as in most government transactions during the pandemic.
The Certificate of Recognition as Filipino Citizen is only given to "a foreign national, who wishes to be acknowledged as a Filipino citizen, whose father and/or mother was/were Filipino citizen/s at the time of the applicant’s birth," while the Affirmation of Recognition as Filipino Citizen is secured by "a foreign national who was recognized as Filipino citizen for a certain period of time."
In theory, it applies to players whose parents were Filipinos and eventually took new citizenship upon their birth and it's a tedious process, to say the least.
An applicant with complete documents must first apply with the BI to start the recognition process, where a hearing with an immigration officer will be scheduled. Once approved, the papers will be endorsed to the DOJ for affirmation and will be reviewed again before being returned to the Immigration department.
It's only then where the applicant will get his Recognition ID from Immigration and an Affirmation document from the DOJ.
The process usually takes at least two months, sources disclosed.
[See Why Andre Paras is a Fil-foreigner under quirky PBA rules]
These papers, however, couldn't be immediately furnished by players whose parents are full-fledged Filipinos yet are born outside of the country.
Parents of the said applicant must report their child's birth to the Philippine Embassy/ Consulate, who in turn would notify the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that there was a Filipino born outside of Philippines. These individuals are eligible to secure their birth certificates from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
It's only then where the individual can go through the process involving the DOJ and BI for recognition and affirmation, a process many regard as redundant given that he has already proven that he is a Filipino citizen.
This is the endeavor that the likes of Andre Paras faces.
The rookie applicant and full-time actor has to go through the same arduous process because he was born in Los Angeles, even if he is the son of two-time PBA MVP Benjie Paras and former actress Jackie Forster.
These same processes have set back Jerrick Ahanmisi and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, who both have yet to present the same documents to the PBA even if both have full brothers playing in the pro league.
[See Why Brandon Ganuelas Rosser is listed a Fil-Am and brother Matt a local]
But what about players whose grandparents are Filipinos before becoming foreign citizens, and in turn, made their parents foreigners even before their birth?
Such cases fall under Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 where at least one of the parents of the applicant will re-acquire Filipino citizenship and, in turn, make their son Filipino through derivative citizenship granting that the child is still a minor.
This act also concerns individuals past 18 years of age who wish to re-acquire Filipino citizenship.
An applicant will file a petition before a Philippine Embassy/ Consulate and will be assessed by an evaluating officer before being approved by the Consul General and transmitted to the BI, who will issue the Identification Certificate.
Once he clears that process, he is now considered as a dual citizen.
It's a grueling path for Fil-foreigners, no doubt. That's why some agents and scouts hope the process can be simplified, to perhaps make a Philippine passport issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) enough proof of citizenship.
Unlike in the 2000s, the Philippine government has modernized the passport, improving its security features to avoid falsification.
Since 2009, the DFA has rolled out a biometric passport also known as the Philippine ePassport, which "allows information stored on the chip to be verified with the information visually displayed on the passport."
The passport, which uses contactless microchip technology, is also equipped with various hidden security features such as Invisible Personal Information (IPI), letterscreen, microprinting, and UV reactive ink, among others.
The DFA issues Philippine passport to individuals with Filipino blood, which explains why a number of Fil-foreign entrants have secured their Philippine passports.
Surprisingly, a passport is not one of the documents the PBA requires from draft applicants.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, though, has earlier stated that the league's board of governors is looking into the matter, hinting at the possibility that the eligibility rules will be relaxed and dual citizens.
Changes in the rules, however, certainly won't apply this year.
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