G.R. No. L-28860 July 24, 1970
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF ALFREDO T. LUY TO BE ADMITTED A CITIZEN OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, ALFREDO T. LUY, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.

FACTS

Alfredo Tan Luy filed a petition for naturalization as a citizen of the Philippines in the Court of First Instance of Misamis Occidental. He did not file the declaration of intention required under Section 5 of Commonwealth Act No. 473 (Revised Naturalization Law), claiming exemption under Section 6. He asserted that he was born in the Philippines on August 8, 1937, and completed his primary, elementary, and secondary education at the Zamboanga City Chinese High School. The lower court granted his petition. The Republic of the Philippines appealed, arguing that the lower court erred in granting the petition despite Luy’s failure to file the declaration of intention and questioning the sufficiency of evidence regarding his birth and the character of his school.

ISSUE

Whether the lower court erred in granting Alfredo T. Luy’s petition for naturalization, considering his failure to file the required declaration of intention and the sufficiency of evidence proving his eligibility for exemption and qualifications for naturalization.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and denied Luy’s petition for naturalization. The Court held:
1. Exemption from Declaration of Intention Not Established: Luy claimed exemption under Section 6 of Commonwealth Act No. 473 , as amended, which requires that the applicant must have been born in the Philippines and received primary and secondary education “in public schools or those recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality.” The Court found that the Zamboanga City Chinese High School was only granted government recognition in 1958, while Luy completed his primary, elementary, and second-year high school education before that date. Furthermore, Luy failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that the school was “not limited to any race or nationality.” The school’s name, its maintenance by the Chinese Educational Society of Zamboanga, and the Chinese nationality of its principal teacher raised adverse implications, and a mere certification from the principal was deemed a conclusion, not a statement of fact.
2. Birth in the Philippines Not Duly Proven: Luy’s testimony, his certificate of residence from the Bureau of Immigration (dated 1954), and his baptismal certificate (issued in 1961) were insufficient to prove his birth in the Philippines. The certificate of residence only established his right to reside in the Philippines, and the baptismal certificate attested to his baptism years after his birth, not the fact of birth itself. Luy’s explanation that his birth certificate was “misplaced or lost” by the Local Civil Registrar was unsatisfactory, as birth records are kept in bound volumes unlikely to be lost.
3. Failure to Renounce Chinese Citizenship: Luy, a citizen of Nationalist China, did not obtain or even apply for the permission required by Chinese laws to renounce his allegiance and acquire another citizenship. Under Section 12 of Commonwealth Act No. 473 , an alien cannot be naturalized without divesting himself of his original nationality through renunciation.
Therefore, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s judgment, denied the petition for naturalization, and dismissed the case, with costs against Alfredo T. Luy.