GR 21422; (December, 1967) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-21422 December 18, 1967
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION TO BE ADMITTED AS CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES. CHUA TIONG SENG alias RICARDO SIMTOCO, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
On December 24, 1960, the Court of First Instance of Samar granted the petition for naturalization of Chua Tiong Seng, alias Ricardo Simtoco. No appeal was taken from this decision. After more than two years, on January 7, 1963, appellee filed a petition to be allowed to take his oath of allegiance as a Filipino citizen under Section 1 of Republic Act No. 530 . After a hearing, the court issued an order on March 14, 1963, allowing appellee to take his oath. He took the oath on the same day, and a certificate of naturalization was issued the following day, March 15, 1963. The Republic of the Philippines appealed, raising several grounds.
ISSUE
The primary issues raised by the State were: (1) whether the trial court acquired jurisdiction over the proceeding given appellee’s failure to mention in his petition all his other aliases; (2) whether appellee possessed all the qualifications required by law and proved compliance with the additional requirements of Republic Act 530; and (3) whether the oath-taking was premature as it occurred before the expiration of the 30-day appeal period from the order allowing it.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed and set aside the appealed order. The Court found a fatal defect in the proceedings because the record indubitably showed that appellee had extensively used other names—Casing Sim and Casing C. Simtoco—which were not disclosed in his petition for naturalization or in the published notice of hearing. This failure frustrated the purpose of the law to give the State and other parties ample opportunity to investigate the applicant’s qualifications and possible disqualifications, especially in regions where he was known by the undisclosed aliases.
Furthermore, the Court found that appellee did not have a lucrative occupation. At the time of the decision, he was an employee with a yearly salary of P3,000. By the time of the final hearing, he was employed as a clerk with a monthly salary of P200, plus a claimed bonus. The Court held that a monthly income of P200 was insufficient to support his wife and several children, and the alleged bonus was contingent and speculative, not part of a fixed yearly income. Based on these conclusions, the Court deemed it unnecessary to rule on the other issues. Consequently, the oath of allegiance taken by appellee and the certificate of naturalization issued to him were ordered cancelled.