FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Second Regular Session 
) 
9 
APR 15 P3:49 
SENATE 
S. No. ;3 I e 
Introduced by Senator Richard J. Gordon 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Under Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution, Congress is empowered to pass laws 
granting Philippine citizenship to foreigners who have rendered outstanding service to the 
country and to the Filipino people. 
This bill seeks to grant Philippine citizenship to Jessie Josephine Coe Lichauco, with 
all the rights, privileges, duties and obligations appurtenant to such grant under the 
Constitution. 
Jessie Josephine Coe Lichauco is an American who was born in Cuba but raised in 
Florida by her relatives after she was orphaned as a young girl. While studying in 
Washington, D.C., she met Marcial P. Lichauco, then a young Filipino lawyer working with 
the OSROX Philippine Independence Mission. Upon Marcial's invitation, Jessie Lichauco 
visited came to the Philippines in 1933, and the two were married in the same year. 
Since then, Jessie Lichauco has lived in the Philippines and claimed the country and 
its people as her own. Jessie Lichauco joined the Asociacion de Damas de Filipinas and 
devoted her work towards the Settlement House, During World War II, she suffered together 
with Filipinos, and aided those of them in need, sheltering them in her home and supporting 
efforts to reach prisoners of war. During the liberation when Manila was bombarded, Jessie 
and Marcial Lichauco opened their Sta. Ana home to fleeing citizens and provided for a 
make-shift hospital where at least 2000 people were cared for. 
After the war, Jessie Lichauco devoted her energies to the Settlement House, of 
which she was President for 9 years. She was also one of the founding members of the Red 
Feather Agency, later known as the Community Chest, an organization that raises funds 
and distributes them to member charitable agencies. In her own capacity, she has also 
helped over 100 young people in completing their education. 
Between 1963-66, Marcial Lichauco was appointed Philippine ambassador to the 
United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and Sweden by then President Diosdado Macapagal. 
Jessie Lichauco served as the Ambassador's hostess, representing the Philippines with 
pride and dignity in international organizations, social events and activities involving the 
diplomatic corps. The Ambassador's home in Palace Green was open to Filipino students, 
business people, and a wide spectrum of workers and travelers from the Philippines. 
Dozens of Filipinos have stories of being welcomed and assisted within the protective 
umbrella her home in Palace Green provided. 
Ir/ 


After her husband's death in 1971, Jessie Lichauco spent some years in the United 
States of America, again opening her home in Massachusetts to Filipino students and 
scholars needing a place to stay. But her century-old home by the Pasig River in Sta. Ana 
remains full of historical memorabilia, making it not only a repository of Filipino history, but a 
haven for travelers, friends and local residents alike. 
Out of her 96 years of age, Jessie Lichauco has spent 75 years in the Philippines, 
claiming this country as her home, speaking the Filipino language and embracing the 
Filipino culture. 
In recognition of the invaluable service rendered to the Filipino nation, this bill 
proposes that Jessie Josephine Coe Lichauco be granted by Congress the honor of 
Philippine citizenship with all the rights, privileges, duties and obligations appurtenant 
thereto and with the same effects and subject to the same conditions as provided under the 
Constitution. For these reasons, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
Senator 
/ 
2 


i; , 
,. . ,  , . 
QFFIGE OF .?:ir 
i x i i t . r m i  
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Second Regular Session 
) 
9 
APR 15 P3:49 
SENATE 
S.No. 3162 
Introduced by Senator Richard J. Gordon 
AN ACT 
GRANTING PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP TO JESSIE JOSEPHINE C. LICHAUCO 
Be if enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
Approved, 
SECTION 1, Jessie Josephine Coe Lichauco is hereby granted Philippine citizenship 
with all the rights, privileges, duties and obligations appurtenant thereto and with the same 
effects and subject to the same conditions as provided under the Constitution. 
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect upon approval. 
3