G.R. No. L-16829 June 30, 1965
OLEGARIO BRITO and TAN SOO alias SO WA, petitioners-appellees, vs. THE COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION, respondent-appellant.

FACTS

Olegario Brito, a Filipino citizen, married Tan Soo, a Chinese national, in Hongkong on December 8, 1954. Upon her arrival in Manila on February 9, 1955, Tan Soo applied for admission as a Philippine citizen based on her marriage to Brito. The Board of Special Inquiry of the Bureau of Immigration admitted her as a Filipino citizen on February 18, 1955, a decision affirmed by the Board of Commissioners on March 8, 1955. Subsequently, the Commissioner of Immigration discovered a marriage contract between Olegario Brito and Narcisa Magat solemnized in Manila on July 17, 1943. On January 16, 1957, the Commissioner ordered Tan Soo’s arrest, alleging she was not lawfully admissible at the time of entry, and required her to show cause why she should not be deported under Section 37(a)(2) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940. Tan Soo and Brito filed a petition for prohibition, mandamus, and injunction with the Court of First Instance of Manila, which issued a preliminary injunction. The lower court initially ordered the Commissioner to refrain from arresting or deporting Tan Soo until a final decision by a competent court. Meanwhile, Olegario Brito was charged with perjury for testifying he was not previously married to Narcisa Magat. He was acquitted on June 13, 1959, the court finding his marriage to Tan Soo valid and his marriage to Narcisa Magat void, as the latter was contracted during the lifetime of his first wife, Gaudencia Molina. The Supreme Court initially dismissed Tan Soo’s petition but, upon motion for reconsideration based on Brito’s acquittal, remanded the case for new trial. After the new trial, the lower court rendered judgment in favor of the petitioners, declaring Tan Soo as Brito’s lawful wife and ordering the Commissioner to recognize her as such and to desist from arresting or molesting her.

ISSUE

Whether the marriage of an alien woman to a Philippine citizen automatically confers Philippine citizenship upon her, entitling her to admission and protection from deportation.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court. It held that the marriage of an alien woman to a Philippine citizen does not automatically make her a Philippine citizen. She must first prove, in appropriate proceedings, that she possesses all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications required by Sections 2 and 4 of the Naturalization Act. The record did not disclose that Tan Soo had made any serious attempt to prove she met these legal requirements for citizenship. Therefore, the lower court erred in granting the petition for prohibition, mandamus, and injunction. The Supreme Court’s decision was without prejudice to Tan Soo’s right to establish her entitlement to Philippine citizenship in an appropriate proceeding.