Drilon wants DFA allegiance fee scrapped

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon yesterday asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to stop collecting allegiance fees from Filipinos who want to reacquire their Philippine citizenship.

Drilon said the collection of allegiance fee amounting to around 45 Euros was raised during his recent meeting with the Filipino community in Spain.

He authored Republic Act 9225, the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003.

Drilon urged the DFA to stop collecting the allegiance fee, saying it dissuades Filipinos from availing themselves of dual citizenship.

“The DFA is not an income-generating institution. It exists for the service of Filipinos abroad,” he said.

“The DFA should stop the collection of the allegiance fee from Filipinos overseas, who are applying to reacquire their Philippine citizenship,” he added.

 Under RA 9225, natural-born Filipinos who lost their citizenship through naturalization in a foreign country may reacquire Philippine citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to the country before a duly authorized Philippine official.