By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief .
Iligan City — The city mayor here has questioned the citizenship of this city’s lone district representative saying the latter could not be considered a Filipino.
Mayor Celso Regencia told reporters on Sunday that Rep. Frederick Siao’s citinzenship situation is not in accordance with the Constitution.
Although Siao was born in the country, Regencia explained, Siao’s parents are both Chinese citizens.
“It is ‘not automatic’ that he (Siao) is considered Filipino. He still has to go into the process of electing and declaring that he is Filipino citizen. It is unlike in America that someone born there automatically becomes an American citizen even if the parents have foreign citizenship,” he said.
Regencia said he learned about Siao’s citizenship situation from city administrator Leo Zaragoza.
The mayor’s ticket consist of former Police Chief here, City Director Leony Roy Ga, Regencia, and Vice Mayor Jemar Vera Cruz as representative, mayor, and vice mayor, respectively.
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