With President Rodrigo Duterte approving his Philippine citizenship, United City FC forward Bienvenido Marañon is finally allowed to play for the Philippine national football team Azkals in international meets.
United City FC forward Bienvenido Marañon is now a Filipino citizen by virtue of Republic Act no. 11570 after President Rodrigo Duterte approved his naturalization on July 2.
RA 11570 grants Philippine citizenship to Marañón, who was born in Spain but has played in the Philippines since 2015.
'Mr. Bienvenido Morejon Marañon is hereby granted Philippine citizenship with 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,' the law read.
The Philippine Senate approved on third and final reading the bill granting Filipino citizenship to Marañón last March 15 but was not signed until July 2, and was only made public on Wednesday, July 7.
“Ako ay Pilipino,” posted Marañon Twitter with the hashtags ‘#labanpilipinas’ and ‘#puso’ together with a picture of himself in a United City training kit with the Philippine flag as the background.
Marañón will have to take an oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines administered by the Bureau of Immigration, apply for a Philippine passport, much like his naturalized batchmate Gilas stalwart Ange Kouame who was granted earlier and lastly, register with FIFA before becoming eligible to play for the Azkals.
Despite the delay in his naturalization, thus missing Azkals' campaign in the joint FIFA World Cup/AFC Asian Cup qualifiers last month, Marañón is fully committed to the Azkals and to Philippine football, according to national team coach Scott Cooper.
"Football fans here need to know that this guy is totally committed to the country and doing well for the Azkals and the national team," he added.
Marañon, 34, plays for the Philippines Football League champion, United City FC, and is the Asian Football Confederation Cup all-time leading goal scorer of the AFC Cup after scoring his 35th goal in March 2020. (NP)
Tags: #football, #naturalization, #BienvenidoMarañon, #PhilippineAzkals