Frivaldo v. COMELEC
G.R. No. 120295, June 28, 1996
FACTS:
Juan G. Frivaldo ran for Governor of Sorsogon
again and won. Raul R. Lee questioned his citizenship. He then petitioned for
repatriation under Presidential Decree No. 725 and was able to take his oath of
allegiance as a Philippine citizen.
However, on the day that he got his
citizenship, the Court had already ruled based on his previous attempts to run
as governor and acquire citizenship, and had proclaimed Lee, who got the second
highest number of votes, as the newly elect Governor of Sorsogon.
ISSUE:
Whether Frivaldo’s repatriation was valid.
RULING:
The court ruled that his repatriation was valid
and legal and because of the curative nature of Presidential Decree No. 725,
his repatriation retroacted to the date of the filing of his application to run
for governor. The steps to reacquire Philippine citizenship by repatriation
under the Presidential Decree No. 725 are:
(1) filing the application;
(2) action by
committee; and
(3) taking the oath
of allegiance if the application is approved.
It is only upon taking the oath of allegiance that the applicant is
deemed ipso jure to have reacquired Philippine citizenship. If the decree has
intended the oath taking to retroact to the date of the filing of the
application, then it should not have explicitly provided otherwise. He is
therefore qualified to be proclaimed governor of Sorogon.
Case Digest by: Vanessa R. Mawile
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