G.R. No. 257453, August 9, 2022
MARIZ LINDSEY TAN GANA-CARAIT Y VILLEGAS, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, ROMMEL MITRA LIM, AND DOMINIC P. NUÑEZ, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

Petitioner Mariz Lindsey Tan Gana-Carait filed her Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for councilor of the City of Dapitan. Respondents filed a petition to deny due course or cancel her CoC (Section 78 Petition) before the COMELEC, alleging she made a false material representation regarding her citizenship. They contended she is a naturalized American citizen and failed to comply with the twin requirements under Republic Act No. 9225 (Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act) to reacquire Philippine citizenship and execute a personal oath of allegiance. The COMELEC First Division and later the COMELEC En Banc granted the petition and cancelled her CoC. The COMELEC issued a Certificate of Finality and a Writ of Execution. Carait timely filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 64 with the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in cancelling Carait’s Certificate of Candidacy on the ground of false material representation concerning her citizenship and eligibility.

RULING

Yes, the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court granted the petition, annulled the COMELEC resolutions, and dismissed the Section 78 Petition against Carait. Justice Caguioa, in a Separate Concurring Opinion, stressed several key points. First, the COMELEC En Banc resolution did not attain finality despite the issuance of a Certificate of Finality because Carait’s Rule 64 petition was filed within the 30-day period mandated by the Constitution, which prevails over the COMELEC’s procedural rule deeming its decisions final after five days absent a Supreme Court restraining order.
On the merits, the COMELEC’s conclusion that Carait acquired American citizenship through naturalization was baseless. The evidence showed she acquired U.S. citizenship at birth by operation of American law (jus soli), not through the legal process of naturalization. Consequently, Republic Act No. 9225 does not apply to her. The law’s requirements for taking an oath of allegiance and renouncing foreign citizenship are expressly for natural-born Filipinos who later became foreign citizens through naturalization. Since Carait was a natural-born Filipino who merely acquired another citizenship by birth, she never lost her Philippine citizenship under the principle of jus sanguinis and prevailing jurisprudence. Therefore, she possessed the citizenship qualification for local elective office under the Local Government Code and made no false representation in her CoC. The COMELEC’s cancellation of her CoC, based on an erroneous application of the law to the established facts, constituted grave abuse of discretion.