Aliens, as a general rule, are not allowed to own real property in the Philippines. By “aliens”, we don’t mean creatures from outer space, but persons who are citizens of other countries. By “general rule”, we mean that there are certain exceptions, and two of such exceptions are discussed below.
The prohibition on foreigners owning Philippine lands is embodied in no less than the Philippine Constitution. This, in fact, is one of the usual reason cited by those who want to revise or amend the Constitution. The Constitution provides:
“Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” (Article XII, Section 7)
It’s clear from this provision that private land may be transferred only to persons or entitles who/which has the capacity “to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” Those who are qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain are as follows:
- 1. Filipino citizens.
- 2. Corporations at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by Filipinos.
In other words, the Constitution explicitly prohibits non-Filipinos from acquiring or holding title to private lands. Among the exceptions are as follows: (1) transfer to an alien by way of legal succession; or (2) if the acquisition was made by a former natural-born citizen. The Constitution provides that:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.” (Art. XII, Sec. 8)
The Supreme Court reiterated this general rule in a recent case (Borromeo vs. Descallar, G.R. No. 159310, 24 February 2009). The Court also reiterated the consistent ruling that if land is invalidly transferred to an alien who subsequently becomes a Filipino citizen or transfers it to a Filipino, the flaw in the original transaction is considered cured and the title of the transferee is rendered valid.
There are other exceptions to the prohibition on aliens owning real property in the Philippines, like full ownership by foreigners of condominium units, but this shall be the subject of future discussions. [See also Ownership of land by former Filipinos]
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why is this a one way topic? Many well off Filipino now buy property abroad. For many of those their are no restrictions of ownership so how would those Filipino who own property in say the United Kingdom were to find they couldn’t own it? The only issue would be if you were looking to take out a mortgage, and then you would need to have been resident in the UK for the last three years (but again, nationality is not an issue) That applies to many countries. Make it clear, if a country cant give what they expect from somewhere else they should not expect to make money from investment in a different country themselves.
Many people are put off to invest in the Philippines simply because of issues like this. I invested here and employ 9 local workers who have stayed working with me for many years now, and yes I can only own 40%, but many more would invest if they didn’t have such restrictions that many in the rich society of the Philippines expect to not be imposed upon them when purchasing abroad. Land and house prices simply need to be restricted by government here and no purchase allowed by foreigners for the pure exploitation of profit. Is it right a man married to his Filipino wife has 2 children who he has cared all his life for finds himself in the situation that he is not next to kin when his wife dies and his children want the money from the house that he spent his life creating and making a home? Well some may say yes, but in that case we all know what type of person you are so no comment needed from those. Generally people who live here have reason to live here, either they are married and want to live here with their spouse and family, or have business here that helps the Philippine economy. In both cases that person is contributing to the economy simply for supporting a family or creating jobs for those out of work. That person should have the right of ownership. The person who just wants to retire here and own a property should not have ownership, because his foreign family if any do not have the right of profit of his death. In many cases foreign men purchases nice houses for their wives and family and the money came from their pockets, so if the wife has a affair and they part, why should he be discriminated against for his non doing. I only mention that because I know a person this actually happened to and is now left desolate while his wife is living on the expense of another man. This does happen in real life yet no protection for those left with the burden of having little left.That man can’t just pick up and go back to the US because he now has barely enough to live here so would be on the streets there. It can’t be a one way system. For those profiting from foreign properties who are often those who set many laws, they need to practice what they preach. The law needs to be changed in a way lot to let floods of foreigners buy up the Philippines as investments, but to make a law of humanity fo9r those who have bothered to contribute in some way to the country. Its easily implemented simply by not allowing the money from a sale of a property leaving the country and that money be placed in a Philippine bank with that restriction put upon it with a limit as to how much can be transferred with exception of a internet household purchase of course to something coming into the country or a plane ticket. To get investment an investor needs some security and even a marriage contract is an investment of a persons love.
I live here with my filipino wife and our child, work hard, pay lots of taxes here (32%) and are forced to pay pag-ibig contributions. When going to pag-ibig to ask for the conditions of a house-loan they told me that as a foreigner I am not entitled to own property and thats the reason why a foreigner can not avail of a home-loan. Thats injustice pure
the idea of disallowing foreighners to own property so lowlife gooks baby inbreeding thieves and murderers can own land to raise chickens and make more pigheaded pork eating babies is proposterous. this is why philippines is only good for sex tourism. more fun in philippines since women so cheap. philippines is not for living a good life. its for getting off. good people will always suffer in a corrupt country. all intelligent people will agree philippines is a corrupt country. 3rd most in world according to recent study. when the hurricanes hit they want papa “joe” to come to the rescue. i.e. give money so the corrupt can steal it. not actually help the people affected by the typhoons. wait till god brings the big one and wipes philippines off the face of the earth. hahahahahahahahahhah.. then you’ll be glad you didnt own land here.
As a consumer and a mere employee i prefer foreigners should invest and buy properties in the Philippines for economy’s sake and employment than going overseas that were mostly treated unfairly. In the provinces, many are in hard labor mostly children in a huge sugarcane plantation owned by a true Filipino.
Excellent replies from a few well intentioned and responsible “Foreigners” that have worked hard and provided their families with a home in the Philippines!
My wife is Filipino.We were married 30 years ago and neither of us had very much money.
We lived in my country and both of us worked hard and saved money for a deposit on a small apartment. After 10 years we had paid the mortgage and owned the property 50/50. We sold it and used the cash for a large deposit on a bigger house. we paid most of the mortgage by working and saving hard together and again,we owned the house 50/50.
We sold the house and moved to the R.P. We bought some land and built a house for us and our 3 children.
Now,my wife owns 100% of everything and I own nothing.
The only saving grace is the fact that my wife is entirely embarrassed by this situation and is definitely not the kind of person to kick me out and leave me with nothing!
IMO I blame my Government for not making sure that Filipino`s have reciprocal land ownership rights at home but perhaps its because they frown on draconian and unfair family laws and codes..Unlike the Philippines!
Could the Filipino`s that commented first answer why they still disagree why the constitution and the family discriminate against foreign spouses?
I doubt it.
The US should ban Philippines citizens from owning any property in the USA. This should also include any immigration processes. Funny how all the countries say you can do this or that but if the US did the same thing they would cry foul. Oh how hypocritical that is… should be common practice to only allow what you yourself are allowed. Some of the comments in this blog are the same people that would scream bloody murder if the US block Philippine peeps from coming to the US to work :/
Well. I’m a foreigner, but I agree some with BOTH sides anyway ! 🙂
I’m AGAINST leting big foreign companies to buy MUCH land for mining, forestry or farming.
BUT it’s BAD to not let foreigners buy some hektares of land to start BUSINESS on. I think mainly of factories REFINING products, which rural Philippines produce allready.
“Foreign investors are still given the opportunity to own land if they invest in Philippine corporations and corporations wherein 60% of which is owned by Filipinos.”
Yes, I know, but few foreign businessmen are stupid enough to be prepared to pay 100 % and only get 40 % 🙂
I know it’s possible to establish a company in an economic zone, BUT:
/at least in the zones I have heared of costs in, it’s EXPENSIVE…
/the zones are in CITIES, and I want to live and have my production business RURAL where more jobs are MOST NEEDED so Filipinos DON’T need to move away from home provinces to allready polluted and over crowded cities…
I don’t have so much capital to invest myself, but I know some rich foreigners, who are interested in investing in the Philippines, BUT NOT if they get only 40 % when they pay whole…
So I believe the Philippines LOOSE many work opportunities by this law…
My Filipina partner and me have been together since 15 years, both of us living and working in Europe. I’m a German man in the late 40s. Both of us have visited the Philippines several times together and spent the time with her family.
I would like to invest and start a business in northern Mindanao, which has a lot of unemployed. This business would employ locals at better conditions than those set by Filipino labour law (my terms and conditions would be close to European labour law, especially concerning pay, medical insurance and paid leave). Most of the profits from this business would stay within the Philippines (except for what I would need for investments in products only available abroad, or for myswelf an occasional trip back to Europe to visit my family).
But I want to be in control, as not to be ripped off like my uncle, who “invested” almost a quarter of a million Euros in the Philippines, paying for businesses and land purchased in the name of his ex-in-law’s. After theyfound out that there was no more money coming in from Europe, they dumped him. He effectively got a large family out of a squatter area and made them millionaires. But as for himself, today he is back in Germany, living of social welfare and suffering from cancer. All his savings are gone and he is too old to get a job.
It is not that I do not trust my Pinay fiancée or that I don’t like her family. It is simply that I’m getting too old to start all over again. I simply cannot afford to gamble with all my old age savings.
Added to my last comment (since editing is not possible):
What I wrote above applies to a small to medium sized business and property for own use. I noticed that large, multinational corporations have no problem in getting whatever they need.
as for bigger investments by foreigners, e.g. if I want to build a factory which costs 100 million dollars, I will have to find a Filipino, who can invest 60 million dollars as per the 60% rule. There are not many around who can do this. This means the law ensures that always the same families (also represented in the political dynasties) will have their fingers in the pot. Additionally I would have to entrust them with all my production and manufacturing secrets.
Even worse is the recent amendment to the law about work permits for foreigners. Not only can a foreign resident (even a spouse of a Filipino citizen) only get a job if there is no Filipino available or willing, he also has to train his Filipino replacement, who will make him redundant as soon as the training is over.
Aw, this was a very good post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to make a great article? but what can I say? I put things off a lot and never manage to get anything done.|