dagpin

[ G.R. NO. 125793, August 29, 2006 ]

JOEVANIE ARELLANO TABASA, PETITIONER, VS. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION AND DEPORTATION AND WILSON SOLUREN, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS: Petitioner Tabasa herein was a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. When Petitioner was seven years old his father Rodolfo Tabasa became a naturalized citizen of U.S.A. By derivative naturalization, petitioner also acquired American Citizenship. In 1995, Petitioner arrived in the Philippines; thereafter the latter was arrested and detained by an agent of BID. The Consul General of the US informed The Bureau that the Petitioner’s passport has been revoked and that the latter has pending federal warrant of arrest. After an investigation was conducted by a special prosecutor he was charged of violating Section 8, Chapter 3, Title 1, Book 3 of the 1987 Administrative Code. Petitioner contends that he reacquired Philippine Citizenship through repatriation under the R.A 8171.

ISSUE: Whether petitioner has validly reacquired Philippine citizenship under RA 8171.

RULING: RA 8171, "An Act Providing for the Repatriation of Filipino Women Who Have Lost Their Philippine citizenship by Marriage to Aliens and of Natural-Born Filipinos," It provides for the repatriation of only two (2) classes of persons:

Filipino women who have lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to aliens and natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship, including their minor children, on account of political or economic necessity, may reacquire Philippine citizenship through repatriation.

Petitioner here failed to prove that his parents abandoned their Philippine citizenship by reason of political or economic necessity as provided for in the law. Petitioner likewise contends that as he reacquired Philippine Citizenship he is not an undocumented alien subject to summary deportation. The Court in its decision held that the theory of the Petitioner is improper as the latter is not entitled for repatriation under R.A 8171for he has not shown that his case falls within the coverage of the law. The Petitioner’s petition for review is dismissed by the SC.

[ G.R. No. 142840, May 07, 2001 ]

ANTONIO BENGSON III, PETITIONER, VS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL AND TEODORO C. CRUZ, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS:   The issue in this case at bar is the citizenship of herein respondent Teodoro C. Cruz, he was then the newly elected representative of the 2^nd district of Pangasinan defeating herein petitioner Antonio Bengson III. Petitioner alleged that the Respondent herein lost his citizenship when he took an oath of allegiance to the U.S.A without the consent of the Republic of the Philippines. Respondent on the other hand contends that he can reacquire his citizenship in the same manner provided by law in three ways (1) by naturalization, (2) by repatriation, and (3) by direct act of Congress.

ISSUE:  Whether respondent Cruz, a natural-born Filipino who became an American citizen, can still be considered a natural-born Filipino upon his reacquisition of Philippine Citizenship.

RULING:  The Court’s ruling in the case at bar is based on R.A. 2630 which provides how a person would reacquire his Philippine Citizenship after he lost the same by rendering service to, or accepting commission in, the Armed Forces of the United States, or after separation from the Armed Forces of the United States, acquired United States citizenship may reacquire Philippine citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and registering the same with Local Civil Registry in the place where he resides or last resided in the Philippines. The Supreme Court further stretched in this decision that Respondent Cruz is qualified to take the process of repatriation since the reason for the lost of his Philippine Citizenship is when he rendered military service in favor for U.S.A. When Respondent successfully completed the process of repatriation he then recovered his lost Philippine Citizenship. Petition for Review is dismissed for no such showing of grave abuse of discretion in the case.

[ G.R. No. 161434, March 03, 2004 ]

MARIA JEANETTE C. TECSON AND FELIX B. DESIDERIO, JR., PETITIONERS, VS. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, RONALD ALLAN KELLY POE (A.K.A. FERNANDO POE, JR.) AND VICTORINO X. FORNIER, RESPONDENTS. ^[*]

[G.R. No. 161634. March 3, 2004]

ZOILO ANTONIO VELEZ, PETITIONER, VS. RONALD ALLAN KELLEY POE, A.K.A. FERNANDO POE, JR., RESPONDENT. ^[*]

[G. R. No. 161824. March 3, 2004]

VICTORINO X. FORNIER, PETITIONER, VS. HON. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND RONALD ALLAN KELLEY POE, ALSO KNOWN AS FERNANDO POE JR., RESPONDENTS.

DECISION

FACTS: Ronald Allan Kelly Poe, also known as Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ), filed his certificate of candidacy for the position of President of the Republic of the Philippines under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) Party, in the 2004 national elections. In his COC, FPJ represented himself as a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and the place of his birth to be Manila Victorino X. Fornier, (GR 161824) commenced, on 9 January 2004, a petition (SPA 04-003) before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to disqualify FPJ and to deny due course or to cancel his certificate of candidacy upon the dissertation that FPJ made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy by claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen

ISSUE: Whether FPJ was a natural born citizen, to be allowed to run for President of the Republic of the Philippines.

RULING: The Supreme Court held in this decision that the term "natural-born citizens," is defined to include "those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship." Herein, the date, month and year of birth of FPJ appeared to be 20 August 1939 during the regime of the 1935 Constitution. Through its history, four modes of acquiring citizenship - naturalization, jus soli, res judicata and jus sanguinis – had been in vogue. Only two, i.e., jus soli and jus sanguinis, could qualify a person to being a “natural-born” citizen of the Philippines. (1) The parents of FPJ were Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley; (2) FPJ was born to them on 20 August 1939; (3) Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley were married to each other on 16 September, 1940; (4) The father of Allan F. Poe was Lorenzo Poe; and (5) At the time of his death on 11 September 1954, Lorenzo Poe was 84 years old. The marriage certificate of Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley, the birth certificate of FPJ, and the death certificate of Lorenzo Pou are documents of public record in the custody of a public officer. The documents have been submitted in evidence by both parties during the proceedings before the COMELEC. But while the whole of the evidence may not establish conclusively that FPJ is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, the evidence on hand still would preponderate in his favor enough to hold that he cannot be held guilty of having made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy in violation of the Omnibus Election Code. The Petitions were dismissed FPJ is allowed to run as President of the Philippines