Clearing the air

BY NEIL RAMOS

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ABS-CBN was quick to quash questions surrounding Gabby Lopez’s citizenship.

Talk about the matter sur­faced in recent weeks with Solicitor General Jose Calida citing documents he obtained from the Department of Justice dating back to 2001, allegedly showing the ABS-CBN chair an American citizen when he and his family-controlled ABS-CBN Corp. in 1987.

Calida said Lopez was only recognized as a Filipino on April 25, 2001 through an order issued by the Bureau of Im­migration as affirmed by then Justice Secretary Hernando P. Perez via an endorsement dated Aug. 6, 2001.

“Clearly, when ABS-CBN Corporation’s franchise was approved on March 30, 1995, through Republic Act No. 7966, Mr. Lopez, in strict terms, was an American citizen, another violation of our nationalization laws,” said Calida.

He added, “Despite being recognized as a Filipino in 2001, Mr. Lopez continued to use his American passport as shown by the List of Travel Records dated March 3, 2020 issued by the BI, with Control No. 20034520. His actuations patently belie his recognition and acceptance of the authority of the Philippines and cast doubt on his true faith and allegiance.”

Note the Constitution only allows Filipinos to own media companies.

In a statement sent to TEM­PO, however, ABS-CBN insisted Lopez is a Filipino citizen.

“He was born to Filipino parents — under the 1935 Con­stitution that was in effect when he was born — which automatically makes him a Filipino citizen. He did not need to acquire Filipino citi­zenship because he never lost it nor renounced it. He was born in the US and under the US Constitution, he is also a US citizen.”

“A passport is not the sole proof of citizenship. When Mr. Lopez asked the Bureau of Im­migration to recognize his citi­zenship, it was for the purpose of getting official recognition of his Filipino citizenship. The Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration have both recognized the Philippine citizenship from birth of Mr. Lopez as contained in Identi­fication Certificate No. 0069 dated Oct. 1, 2002,” it added.

It should be noted Calida did not include Lopez’s citizenship among issues he raised in the quo warranto case his office filed against ABS-CBN with the Supreme Court on Feb. 10.