Since the appointment last year of Duterte's foreign affairs chief Yasay, he has been denying that he "was" a US citizen or "had once become" a US citizen. Yesterday copies of his official US immigration records were exposed and published by the INQUIRER.net. The documents show that in 1986 he became a US citizen by "naturalization". In 1987 he resumed permanent residence in the Philippines. He abandoned his US citizenship. Last year, after twenty-nine years, he executed his formal "affidavit of renunciation" of his US citizenship. Thereafter in the same year the US issued his "certificate of loss of US citizenship", which he rushed prior to his appointment as a Duterte official.
The documents do not show the legal methods that he used to "legally re-acquire", if any, his "lost Filipino citizenship". For the record, he should clarify this legal issue. He is a public servant who holds a highly sensitive position in the government. He has the duty to be truthful to the Filipino people about his legal status.
The "burden of evidence" is now upon Yasay's shoulders to prove that he is not an "illegal alien" or a "stateless" person holding the highest foreign affairs position the country who is expected to be a patriotic and loyal representative, voice and advocate of the Philippine national interest in all foreign negotiations, transactions, treaties and conventions.
The Filipinos are interested to know if he might have wittingly or unwittingly exposed himself to the felonies of falsification of public documents and other serious violations of the revised penal code and the violations of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act, the code of ethical standards for public officials, the civil service laws, the administrative code, and other relevant penal and criminal laws of the country in the course of his dealings, transactions, and performance as a public official and as a private individual in relation to his legal status.
