THE House of Representatives is set to deliberate the granting of Philippine citizenship to Carlos Kwok-Hing Yeung, a Hong Kong national and the husband of Cebuana philanthropist Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung.
Cebu Third District Rep. and House Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia filed on August 24, House Bill 6262 granting Philippine citizenship to Yeung. The bill is now in the House Committee on Justice.
Yeung is the brother-in-law of of the of the Fourth District of Cebu Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, the brother of Mariquita.
Article IV of the Philippine Constitution provides for the general ways in acquiring a naturalized citizenship, which include an act of Congress if a foreign person has made a significant contribution to public life in the Philippines and the application can be sponsored by a senator or congressman.
Though a national of Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Yeung has, for over 40 years, worked and lived as if he were a Filipino.
In 1978 Yeung, a Chinese-British businessman with a diamond jewelry business in Hong Kong, first came to the Philippines to marry Mariquita and made Cebu not just his second home, but the home of his growing family and the focus of his ventures as an entrepreneur.
A partner of the highly successful diamond dealer Simplex Diam HK Ltd. in Hong Kong, Yeung soon expanded his investments to the Philippines through MSY Holdings Inc., of which he is the vice chairman. The company’s affiliates are engaged in diverse businesses, such as real-estate development, the hospitality business, health and fitness and others, such as the Agujo Land Corp., MFC Holdings Corp., CY/FC Ventures Corp., Cebu Sutherland Construction and Development Corp. and Kandaya Fitness Gymn Inc.
MSY Holdings Inc. is responsible for building two distinct landmarks in Cebu, such as the Kandaya Resort, a luxury-beach resort in Daanbantayan town, and the MSY Tower, the premier business address at the Cebu Business Park, Cebu City.
Garcia said that, while his business ventures have created employment opportunities for thousands of Filipinos, it is in the area of philanthropy where Yeung excels and has touched tens of thousands of lives in Cebu and nearby provinces since 1991.
Through the MSY Charitable Foundation Inc. Yeung and his wife Mariquita has funded the construction of health centers and the conduct of medical-surgical-dental missions in depressed areas in Cebu Province, a medical assistance program for indigent patients, assistance for the repair and reconstruction of public school buildings, financial assistance to poor and deserving students in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels; relief operations in times of natural calamity and support to worthy religious, social, civil and cultural projects.