G.R. No. 87193 June 23, 1989
JUAN GALLANOSA FRIVALDO, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND THE LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES, SORSOGON CHAPTER, HEREIN REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, SALVADOR NEE ESTUYE, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Juan G. Frivaldo was proclaimed governor-elect of Sorsogon on January 22, 1988. On October 27, 1988, the League of Municipalities of Sorsogon, through its President Salvador Estuye (also suing personally), filed a petition with the COMELEC to annul Frivaldo’s election and proclamation. The ground was that Frivaldo was not a Filipino citizen, having been naturalized as a U.S. citizen on January 20, 1983. In his answer, Frivaldo admitted the naturalization but claimed it was a forced act for survival against the Marcos regime. He argued the petition was a belated quo warranto suit under Section 253 of the Omnibus Election Code, which must be filed within ten days from proclamation, and that the League lacked standing as it was not a voter.
Frivaldo moved for a preliminary hearing on these affirmative defenses. The COMELEC, however, issued an order setting the case for hearing on the merits, denying his motion for reconsideration. Frivaldo thus filed this petition for certiorari and prohibition, alleging grave abuse of discretion. The Solicitor General, representing COMELEC, supported the disqualification, arguing Frivaldo remained an alien disqualified from office and that the constitutional and statutory disqualification could not be cured by election.

ISSUE

The primary issue is whether Juan G. Frivaldo was a citizen of the Philippines at the time of his election as provincial governor on January 18, 1988.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that Frivaldo was NOT a Filipino citizen at the time of the election and was therefore disqualified from holding the office of Governor. The legal logic is anchored on the constitutional and statutory requirement that a candidate for elective public office must be a Filipino citizen. The Court found Frivaldo’s admission of his 1983 U.S. naturalization conclusive. His various arguments for reacquiring citizenship were all rejected. His claim that naturalization was involuntary, citing the Nottebohm Case, was inapplicable as he voluntarily sought and obtained American citizenship. His participation in the 1987 elections did not automatically divest him of American citizenship or restore Philippine citizenship under U.S. or Philippine law. His oath in his certificate of candidacy could not substitute for the formal process of repatriation, which he admitted he had not undergone by election day.
On procedural matters, the Court, citing the paramount public interest in preventing an alien from holding a high provincial office, adopted a pragmatic approach. It held that the ten-day limitation for a quo warranto petition under the Omnibus Election Code did not apply with strictness to a fundamental ineligibility based on alienage, which renders the candidacy void ab initio. The Court also assumed jurisdiction directly, treating the Solicitor General’s stance as reflecting COMELEC’s decision, to avoid a protracted delay detrimental to public interest. Consequently, Frivaldo was declared ineligible, and the position of Governor of Sorsogon was deemed vacant.