GR L 1663; (March, 1948) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-1663; March 31, 1948
FLORETINA VILLAHERMOSA, petitioner-appellant, vs. THE COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION, respondent-appellee.
FACTS
Delfin Co, an 18-year-old born in the Philippines to a Chinese father (Co Suy) and a Filipino mother (Florentina Villahermosa), left for China in February 1946 as a Chinese repatriate. In March 1947, he led a group of 69 Chinese in a clandestine entry into Ilocos Sur, attempting to evade immigration laws. He was apprehended, investigated, and ordered deported by the Commissioner of Immigration. His mother, Florentina Villahermosa, who had lost her Philippine citizenship upon marriage to a Chinese alien, reacquired it by taking an oath of allegiance under Commonwealth Act No. 63 on April 29, 1947, after Delfin’s apprehension. She filed a petition for habeas corpus on his behalf, arguing that as a minor, Delfin’s citizenship followed hers, making him a Filipino not subject to deportation.
ISSUE
Whether Delfin Co, under the circumstances, is a Filipino citizen not subject to deportation.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the deportation order.
1. Delfin Co is not a Filipino citizen. Under Article IV, Section 1 of the 1935 Constitution, a child born of a Filipino mother and an alien father must, upon reaching the age of majority, elect Philippine citizenship. As a minor, Delfin had not made that election. At the time of his illegal entry, his mother was still considered a Chinese citizen (having lost her Philippine citizenship by marriage), and his father was Chinese. His mother’s subsequent repatriation did not automatically confer Philippine citizenship upon him, as he had never been a Filipino citizen to begin with.
2. Even assuming he could eventually become a Filipino, his status at the time of entry controls for deportation purposes. He was a Chinese citizen when he illegally entered. A subsequent change in status cannot legalize an unlawful entry or defeat deportation proceedings. The government’s power to deport an alien for unlawful entry is not negated by a later-acquired claim to citizenship.
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