Contents:
Owning property by former Filipinos
Owning property by foreigners
Erstwhile Filipino Citizens' Reacquisition of Rights and Privileges of 2001

Property in the Philippines

Everybody who tried to buy property or just wanted to open a bank account in the Philippines got a nasty surprise: It not allowed for foreigners to own something in the Philippines, if not a Filipino partner is available as well. Basically this means that either both share the property with equal rights, or the Filipino owns 51% or more, and the foreigner owns 49 % and less. 

Ok, you think that is not a major problem? You are married to your beautiful Filipina wife, and that solves the problem of the Filipino participation anyway. Well, be warned, there might not be a divorce in the Philippines, but there is for sure in all other countries. So when you split up your relation, and you did not provide for some method to guarantee your property, you might loose it all. 

So what can you do? You will have to arrange for an additional contract certified by a lawyer that guarantees that your partner will never be able to do anything with his part of the property without your explicit consent. You paid 100 percent anyway, so that kind of contract is quite normal in the Philippines.

Owning property by former Filipinos

Now a different issue. You are a Filipina, and you have managed to buy some land in your home country, and you have secured the life of your family on that piece of land. Now you have decided to change your citizenship to that of the country where you are living. The advantages are clear: No more travel tax for your trips to the Philippines, and no more visa requirements when you travel around the world. But what happens to your property? Now you cannot own it anymore?

Well, you are lucky. Sometimes the Philippine government does something right. All property which you own in the Philippines before you lose your citizenship you can keep without any problems. Even more, you can even buy property within limits as a former Philippine citizen. There is only one drawback. As a former Filipino you can only buy additional property up to the limits mentioned below. So when you are already owning more than 1000 sqm of land for housing, there is no chance anymore to buy anything. 

Just read the following official statements:

The Laws on Land Ownership by former Filipinos

Article XII, Section 8, of the Philippine Constitution provides that a natural born citizens of the Philippines who has lost his or her Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.
Section 7 of the same Article entitles former Filipinos to own and acquire lands through hereditary succession, i.e. by virtue of inheritance.

The laws on land ownership by natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship are governed by Batas Pambansa Blg. 185 (BP 185), which was enacted in March 1982, and Republic Act 8179 (RA 8179), which amended the Foreign Investment Act of 1991. The following are the provisions of BP 185 and RA 7042, as amended by RA 8179, pertinent to land ownership by former Filipinos:

 

PARTICULARS

PROVISIONS UNDER BP 185
(Applies to acquisition of land for purposes of residence)

PROVISIONS UNDER RA 7042 AS AMENDED BY RA 8179
(Applies to acquisition of land for purposes of business or commerce)

Size/Area Coverage

Maximum of 1000 sq. meters for urban land Maximum of one (1) hectare for rural land

Maximum of 5000 sq. meters for urban land Maximum of three (3) hectares for rural land

Land Acquisition for Both Spouses

Either of the spouses may avail of this privilege In case both spouses wish to acquire lands for this purposes, the total area acquired should not exceed the maximum

Either of the spouses may avail of this privilege In case both spouses wish to acquire lands for this purposes, the total area acquired should not exceed the maximum

Additional Land Acquisition

In case he/she already owns urban or rural lands for residential purposes, he/she may acquire additional urban or rural lands, which when added to those he/she presently owns shall not exceed the authorized maximum area.

In case he/she already owns urban or rural lands for business purposes, he/, she may acquire additional urban or rural lands which when added to those he/she presently owns shall not exceed the authorized maximum area.

Limits to Acquisition of Land

A person may acquire not more that two (2) lots which should be situated in different municipalities or cities anywhere in the Philippines, provided that the total area of those lots do not exceed 1,000 sq. meters for urban land or one (1) hectare for rural land for use as residence. An individual who has already acquired urban land shall be disqualified from acquiring rural land and vice versa.

A person may acquire not more that two (2) lots which should be situated in different municipalities or cities anywhere in the Philippines, provided that the total area of those lots do not exceed 5,000 sq. meters for urban land or three (3) hectares for rural land for use as residence. Under Section 4 of Rule XII of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 704 as amended by RA 8179, a transferee who has already acquired urban land shall be disqualified from acquiring rural land and vice versa. However, if the transferee has disposed of his rural land, he may still acquire rural land and vice versa, provided that this will be used for business. A transferee of residential land acquired under Batas Pambansa Blg. 185 may still avail of the privilege granted under this law.

Use of Land

The acquired land should not be used for any purpose other than for his/her residence.

Section 5 of Rule XII specifically states that “the land should be primarily, directly and actually used in the performance or conduct of the owner’s business or commercial activities in the broad areas of agriculture, industry and services including the lease of land but excluding the buying or selling thereof.

Special Requirements

In addition to the requirements provided for in other laws for the registration of titles to lands, the transferee should submit to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the property is located a sworn statement showing the following:

Date and place of birth Names and addresses of his/her parents, his/her spouse, and children, if any; The area, location, and mode of acquisition of his/her landholdings in the Philippines, if any; His/her intention to reside permanently in the Philippines; Date he/she lost his/her Philippine citizenship and the country of which he/she is presently a citizen.

In addition to the usual registration requirements pertinent to the conveyance of real estate, the transfer contemplated shall not be recorded unless the transferee submits to the Registry of Deeds of the province or city where the land is situated, the following:

Certification of business registration issued by the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection of the Department of Trade and Industry; Sworn statement same as that in BP 185; Certification from the assessor of the municipality or province where the property is situated that the subject land for transfer is in an urban or rural area; If an agricultural land is acquired, a certification from the Department of Agrarian Reform that the land is a retained area of the transferor and an affidavit of the transferee attesting that his total landholdings inclusive of the land to be acquired does not exceed the 5-hectare limit fixed by RA 6657 (the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Act – CARP).

REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND REGISTRATION OR ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE (JUDICIAL TITLING)

The application for land registration should be filed in triplicate with the Clerk of the Regional Trial Court of the province/city where the property is located. The following documents should be attached to the application:

1. Original plan on tracing cloth duly approved by the Director of Lands or Regional Land Director, or in lieu thereof, a true copy of the same on a tracing cloth properly attested and certified by said Office or official authorized to make such certification, together with two (2) print copies thereof;
2. Technical description, three (3) copies
3. Surveyor’s certificate, three (3) copies
4. Certificate of the assessed value of the property issued by the provincial treasurer, in quadruplicate

REQUIREMENTS FOR LAND TRANSFER OR TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE

The following documents are required for the filing of land transfer:
1. Copies of the Deed of Absolute Sale
2. Latest real estate tax payments
3. Latest tax declaration of the property
4. Certificate from the Bureau of Internal Revenue that the capital gains tax and documentary stamps have been paid
5. Transfer tax
6. Receipt of payment of the transfer and registration fees

 

Owning Property by Foreigners:

No foreigner is allowed to won property in the Philippines, as already mentioned in the top section.  But there are exceptions: 

Foreigners are allowed to won property, especially land, by hereditary succession. This simply means, when your Filipina wife dies, you as the natural heir will become the legal owner of her property. 

The same is true for the children, every natural child (legitimate or illegitimate) can inherit the property for his/her Filipina mother, even when the child does not have the Philippine citizenship.

There on other exception, this are condominium units and apartments. These can be owned by any foreigner, provided that the alien participation in the complete complex does not exceed 40% of value.

Owning of houses or buildings is possible as well, as long as the foreigner dooes not own the land on which the house is build. The land though can be leased by the foreigner on a long term contract, and the house can be legally his property.

 

Erstwhile Filipino Citizens' Reacquisition of Rights and Privileges of 2001

An act allowing natural-born citizen as the Philippines who have lost their Filipino citizenship to retail certain rights and privileges, subject to certain constitutional limitations and for other purposes.

This act is a proposal for the Philippine government, so it is not a valid law yet. Actually 7 similar acts have been proposed in 2001. (HB00081,HB00330,HB01238,HB01771,HB02531,HB03369,HB03370). The idea in most of these proposals is either the possibility to retain the Philippine citizenship, or to make certain privileges available to former natural born Filipinos. The above mentioned proposal would allow for former Filipinos to:

As soon as there has been approval or changes in the Philippine law, this page will be updated to reflect the new changes.