Marañon’s next step is to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines administered by the Bureau of Immigration and apply for a Philippine passport.

The 34-year-old footballer first came to the Philippines last  2015, to play for Ceres Negros FC in the PFL and showcased outstanding performance as he was penned as the top scorer of the league in 2017 and 2019, and the best import player in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Despite the delay in naturalization and missing the Philippine Azkals’ campaign in the joint FIFA World Cup/AFC Asian Cup qualifiers last month, Marañón is fully committed to the Azkals.

“He’s committed to the country, he travels around the country, spends a lot of time doing different things,” said national team coach Scott Cooper.

While Marañón affirmed that he loved being in the Philippines saying that “for me, I would like to be Filipino because I love the country, I love its people, and I feel too much love from its people.”

“I would like to give them that love that I received,” he added.