(UPDATE) THE Maltese passport of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was surrendered and renounced before he filed his certificate of candidacy in 2021, Department of National Defense (DND) spokesman Arsenio Andolong said on Monday.
In a statement, he said Teodoro’s Maltese passport was disclosed to relevant government institutions, negating claims that his foreign citizenship might cause a breach to national security.
“The alleged existing Maltese passport of Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. was surrendered and renounced prior to the filing of his certificate of candidacy in 2021 for the 2022 elections. Its existence was disclosed to the Bureau of Immigration and Comelec prior to the 2022 elections, as well as to the Committee on Appointments prior to their confirmation of his appointment as Defense secretary,” Andolong said.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr
Andolong said Teodoro is well aware of the motive behind the release of news reports about his Maltese passport.
“The motive of this rumor is clear and known to Secretary Teodoro. The timing of the article adds to this motive,” Andolong said.
The DND statement confirmed The Manila Times story Monday that Teodoro acquired a Maltese passport in 2016, but did not say why or how he did this.
Teodoro could have acquired Maltese citizenship through Malta’s controversial “golden passport” program, formally known as the Citizenship by Investment, which allows wealthy individuals to obtain Maltese, and by extension, European Union citizenship, in exchange for substantial financial investments.
The Maltese program was deemed illegal by the European Court of Justice, which said it undermined the concept of EU citizenship, which should be based on genuine ties to a member state, not just financial contributions.
Reports said Malta’s scheme requires a minimum contribution of €600,000 (roughly P39.7 million) to the Maltese government, the purchase or long-term lease of property, and a donation to charity.
Those granted citizenship are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Malta.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) neither confirmed nor denied whether or not Teodoro surrendered and renounced his Maltese citizenship before filing his certificate of candidacy when he ran for senator in 2022.
But Immigration spokesman Dana Sandoval said Monday the agency would submit documents related to Teodoro’s Maltese citizenship if required by the proper authorities, even as she refused to identify the kind of documents in the bureau’s possession.
Asked for a copy of the documents, Sandoval said it was the camp of Teodoro that could share the information surrounding the issue.
Sandoval also said the Maltese passport was not surrendered to the bureau “but with the concerned government” office.
Asked what kind of document Teodoro submitted to the BI, Sandoval said she could not answer that for the moment, citing the Data Privacy Law.
She said that renunciation of one’s citizenship is done with the BI as a requirement if one is a foreign national who became a naturalized Filipino for the cancellation of his or her alien certificate of registration (ACR) with the Immigration bureau.
“But for [natural born] Filipino who become a foreign national, then renounce it, it is not with the BI,” she said.
Republic Act (RA) 9225 or the “Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003,” allows natural-born Filipinos who become naturalized citizens of a foreign country to retain or reacquire their Philippine citizenship.
Under RA 9225, dual citizens who reacquire or retain their Philippine citizenship through RA 9225 have full civil and political rights, such as right to vote, right to own property.
However, those who hold dual citizenship, as in the case of Teodoro, must renounce foreign allegiance if they seek to hold public office.
Positions requiring exclusive allegiance to the Philippines include high-level government positions like president, vice president and members of Congress.
Under the law, “one must explicitly renounce foreign allegiances if they aim to run for or occupy high government offices.”
The Manila Times tried to reach out to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco but got no response.
The Manila Times also tried to get a statement from the embassy of Malta but got no response as of press time.