Senate panel unanimously OKs bill granting Philippine citizenship to Elizabeth Zobel de Ayala

The Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the bill granting Philippine citizenship to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Eder-Zobel de Ayala.

The Senate panel swiftly approved Senate Bill 2221 after Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, the author of the measure, moved for its passage.

During the hearing, Drilon acknowledged Zobel de Ayala’s socio-civic activities in the country since she married business tycoon Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala in 1987.

“The extraordinary thing about Lizzie, if I may call our applicant Lizzie, is that her privilege does not make her rest in comfort. Instead, it drives her to serve the larger community around her, inspiring and initiating change, restoring hope and helping build a nation which she adopted as her own. It is indeed a pleasure for me to have filed the corresponding measure in the Senate,” Drilon said.

Zobel de Ayala was also praised by Senators Sonny Angara, Risa Hontiveros and Senate Majority Leader Juan MIguel Zubiri.

The lawmakers cited her contributions to various projects such as the Teach for the Philippines organization, the Philippine Center for Population and Development, the Aklat Sisikat Foundation and the National Museum of the Philippines.

In response, Zobel de Ayala thanked the senators for their support and words of appreciation.

“Your honor, in working together with the Filipino and for the Filipino, I have fallen in love with the Philippines and would like to formally become a citizen of the Philippines that I already am in my heart,” Zobel de Ayala, a US citizen, said during the Senate hearing.

“It is my sincere hope that by formalizing my citizenship in the Philippines, I may be given a greater chance to contribute to the work that all of you do for the Filipino people,” she added.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Immigration, the National International Coordinating Agency, and the National Bureau of Investigation expressed no objection to the grant of Philippine citizenship to Zobel de Ayala, citing her clean record with them.

Once SB 2221 is enacted, Zobel de Ayala will also be granted all the rights, privileges, and prerogatives, as well as the duties and obligations appurtenant thereto under the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.

She shall take the Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines before an officer duly authorized to administer the same.

The Oath of Allegiance shall be registered with the Bureau of Immigration, after which the BI shall issue a Certificate of Naturalization to Zobel de Ayala.

SB 2221’s counterpart measure in the House of Representatives was already approved last September 21. — BM, GMA News