LOCAL businessmen believe the recently signed dual citizenship law will encourage investment in the country, but not immediately. The law “could be an incentive for them (former Filipinos) to come to the Philippines to invest. In the long run, probably they will (invest), but not immediately,” said Carlos Co, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

President Arroyo last Friday signed into law a bill allowing Filipinos abroad to have dual citizenship in a bid to open the economy to more investment. This means former Filipinos or those who were born in the Philippines but who have since obtained citizenship elsewhere will be allowed to regain their Philippine citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to this country.

This has implications for investment since some areas of the economy are limited only to Filipino citizens like ownership of land, practice of some professions and majority control of some industries, according to reports. But Co said most of the Filipinos who had migrated to other countries were of the working class, so they might not have the means to invest just yet.

“Maybe when they are economically better off,” he said. Financial Executives Institute of Cebu Inc. president Prudencio Gesta was more bullish, saying the law “can encourage investment, especially from the successful old Filipinos going to retire,” who can afford to do so.

“This is a positive note to the economy,” he said, with retirees “much aware that our retirement situation here in the Philippines is much better than in the United States,” where many Filipinos traditionally migrate. However, he warned that the government would need to address the political crisis it is now facing as this could also “affect the overall picture of the economy, investment-wise.”

The Arroyo administration is now struggling to find the masterminds behind a failed military mutiny last July 27, while trying to fend off allegations of money laundering against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. Rex Carampatana, proprietor of Prim Properties Realty and Development, was less optimistic about the new law’s effects, saying even before the dual citizenship law was signed, former Filipinos could already own up to 5,000 square meters of urban land and three hectares of rural land.

Although the new law might encourage former Filipinos to invest, he was doubtful whether they would be interested in investing more than what they are already allowed to. He said most of those he had come across “don’t want to buy so much. They just want to buy a home and property where they can retire.”

But he did not discount the possibility that “some business-minded Filipinos” might want to invest. Carampatana said the clamor was for foreigners, usually husbands of Filipino women, to be allowed to buy land. According to various sources, the remittances of some seven million Filipinos working or living abroad last year reached $7.19 billion, an amount nearly equal to the country’s agricultural output. CTL