Topic: Citizenship, loss, and reacquisition
Kapunan, J.:
FACTS:
1. Respondent was born and in San Clemente Tarla in 27 April 1960. He was a natural-born citizen in accordance with 1935 Constitution.
2. However, he joined the US Marine Corps and took an oath of allegiance to the United States without the consent of this Republic. Commonwealth Act No. 63, section 1(4) provides that a Filipino citizen may lose his citizenship by, among other things, "rendering service to or accepting commission in the armed forces of a foreign country." He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on 5 June 1990 and therefore completely lost his Philippine citizenship.
3. On 04 March 1994, he reacquired his Philippine citizenship thru repatriation as provided in R.A. 2630.
4. He won as 2nd district representative of Pangasinan in the 11 May 1998 elections over Antonio Bengson, herein petitioner, by a margin of 26,671.
5. Subsequently, Bengson filed a Quo Warranto Ad Cautelam case with House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) claiming that Cruz is not a natural-born citizen as required under Article VI, section 6 of the Constitution and is therefore, not qualified to become a member of the House of Representatives.
6. On 02 March 2000, the HRET dismissed the Quo Warranto petition declaring Cruz as the duly elected 2nd District representative of Pangasinan.
7. Thus petitioner Bengson petitioned for certiorari assailing the HRET's decision alleging that The HRET committed serious errors and grave abuse of discretion amounting to excess jurisdiction when:
7.1. it ruled that Cruz is a natural-born citizen when he had ceased being such when he renounced his citizenship;
7.2. it considered Cruz as a citizen of the Philippines eventhough he did not validly acquire his Philippine citizenship;
7.3. assuming that respondent acquisition was invalid, when it dismissed the petition despite the fact that such reacquisition could not legally and constitutionally restore his natural-born status.
ISSUE:
Whether or not respondent Cruz, a natural-born Filipino who became an American citizen, can still be considered as a natural-born Filipino upon his reacquisition of Philippine citizenship.
RULING:
YES, Cruz can still be considered as a natural-born citizen upon his reacquisition of Philippine citizenship.
Petitioner's contention that Cruz is no longer a natural-born citizen since he head to perform an act to regain his citizenship is untenable.
The are two ways of acquiring citizenship: 1) by birth, 2) by naturalization. Article IV of the 1987 Constitution defines natural-born citizens as those who are considered Philippine citizen from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect his Philippine citizenship. On the other hand, naturalized citizens are those who have become Filipino citizens through naturalization under the Commonwealth Act No. 473, or the Revised Naturalization Law, when an applicant present proof that he has: 1) not left the Philippines; 2) has dedicated himself to a lawful calling or profession; 3) has not been convicted of any offense or violation of Government promulgated rules; or 4) committed any act prejudicial to the interest of the nation or contrary to any Government announced policies.
Those who lost their Philippine citizenship may be reacquired by: 1) naturalizaliton, 2) repatriation, 3) direct act of Congress.
Naturalization is a mode for both acquisition and reacquisition of Philippine citizenship.
Repatriation on the other hand may be had by those who lost their citizenship due to:
1) desertion of the armed forces, 2) service in the Armed Forces of the allied forces in World War II, 3) service in the Armed Forces of the United States at any other time, 4) Marriage of a Filipino women to an alien, and 5) political economic necessity.
Compared with the lengthy process of naturalization, repatriation simple requires taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and registering said oath in the Local Civil Registry of the place where the person concerned resides or last resided.
In the present case, Cruz recovered his original status as a natural-born citizen, a status which he acquired at birth as a son of a Filipino father, after going through repatriation since it results to recovery of original nationality.
Thus, Cruz is now again deemed a natural-born citizen and petition is dismissed.
Comments
Post a Comment