Corporations engaged in business activities reserved for Philippine nationals where foreign equity shall be limited to that prescribed by the Constitution and other existing laws are also known as wholly or partially nationalized corporations. Accordingly, the election of foreigners into the Board of Directors of these corporations is subject to strict limitations.

In the case of Gamboa vs Teves (Gamboa case) (GR 176579, June 28, 2011), the Supreme Court held that the term 'capital' appearing in Section 11, Article XII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution refers only to common shares or shares of stock entitled to vote in the election of the members of the board of directors, and not to the total outstanding capital stock. Pursuant to the Gamboa case, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued SEC Memorandum Circular 8, Series of 2013, which provides for the guidelines for the compliance with the Filipino-foreign ownership requirements prescribed in the Constitution and other existing laws by corporations engaged in nationalized and partly nationalized activities. Under SEC Memorandum Circular 8-13, for purposes of determining compliance with nationalization laws, the required percentage of Filipino ownership shall be applied to BOTH: the total number of outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote in the election of directors; AND the total number of outstanding shares of stock, whether or not entitled to vote in the election of directors.