Originally Posted by NeJammer

I researched it a little more. The only reason it would be beneficial to a foreigner is that they would be able to acquire and/or own land. A lot of foreigners are stuck with being able to rent, lease or buy condos. If they are married to a filipina, they can buy a house and lot but the real ownership goes to the wife. An unscrupulous wife can get you blacklisted from the country and the house and lot will belong entirely to her. I'm not saying this is always the case, but it can happen. Since you are a resident or a visa holder you don't really have that many rights. Now if your filipina wife passes away it can be contested in court by her family members that you don't have sole rights to the land. It's not necessarily automatic that you get the house and lot that YOU paid for in most cases. So it is one's best interest from a legal sense to become a legalized citizen if you want to own the property you paid for. With a 13A resident visa. After 5 years as a resident you can apply for citizenship. It is also compulsory to send your children if any to Philippine schools to learn Philippine history. In addition you must learn to read, speak, and write tagalog or any of the other native dialects.
The U.S. is a dual citizenship country. So you can retain your U.S. citizenship status. That means that once you are a natural born U.S. citizen you remain that way. Even if you denounce your citizenship, it may take months or years to process and reinstating yourself I hear is not that difficult.
So in closing, if you are secure in the idea that your investment is safe, and that your wife will never leave you, and will die after you. If you don't care what happens to the land/house you bought with your retirement nest egg after you or your spouse passes away. Then don't apply for citizenship. If you plan to stay there a long time, it seems applying for citizenship, would be an intelligent thing to do.