Post by alex on Mar 20, 2012 8:29:16 GMT 8
Hi Bernadette. I am constrained to contact you after viewing your report on UKG about that abandoned baby girl found in a plastic bag hanging from a tree. It was a heart wrenching sight to say the least. But this is timely. Last year, RP has acceded to the 1954 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Foundlings are at risk of being stateless. Adoption is not a mode of acquiring or transmitting Phil citizenship unlike in other countries. So foundlings will have to be naturalized. In France, foundlings are conferred French citizenship automatically. This, we lack. There are thousands of "Pinoys" who are at risk of being stateless (like the Badjaos and those children of Pinays born out of wedlock in Saudi Arabia) because parents won't or can't register their births. I wish you could promote awareness about this especially to Congress so a legal remedy can be found. At present, the most that we can do is to recognize them as stateless so they can enjoy the rights due them under the Convention.