G.R. No. L-20801 March 31, 1966
Pepito Lao Alfonso and Juanito Lao Alfonso, petitioners-appellees, vs. Hon. Martiniano Vivo, in his capacity as Acting Commissioner of Immigration, respondent-appellant.

FACTS

In March 1961, petitioners Pepito Lao Alfonso and Juanito Lao Alfonso, both born in China, applied for admission into the Philippines as sons of Sofronio Lao Alfonso, a Filipino citizen by election. The Board of Special Inquiry No. 1 of the Bureau of Immigration, on August 7, 1961, rendered a decision declaring them to be children of Sofronio Lao Alfonso and entitled to Philippine citizenship, and they were accordingly “admitted” and issued identification certificates. This decision was affirmed upon review by the Board of Commissioners on April 28, 1961. On July 14, 1962, respondent Acting Commissioner of Immigration issued a “Warrant of Arrest” against the petitioners, alleging they were Chinese citizens who entered the Philippines illegally and fraudulently by falsely representing themselves as Philippine citizens through fraudulently obtained certificates, and were subject to deportation under the Philippine Immigration Act. The petitioners filed a petition for “Mandamus with Preliminary Injunction” with the Court of First Instance of Manila, seeking to be declared Philippine citizens and to enjoin the enforcement of the warrant. The lower court issued a preliminary injunction and later rendered judgment making the injunction permanent insofar as it enjoined the deportation order, without prejudice to the right of the respondent to proceed against the petitioners for deportation in accordance with the law. The respondent appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the respondent Acting Commissioner of Immigration acted without or in excess of jurisdiction in issuing the warrant of arrest against the petitioners, and whether the petition for mandamus with injunction was the proper remedy.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the lower court and dismissed the petition. The warrant of arrest issued by the respondent Acting Commissioner was valid. Section 37(a) of the Philippine Immigration Act authorizes the Commissioner of Immigration to issue a warrant of arrest upon a determination by the Board of Commissioners of the existence of a ground for deportation; the concurrence or approval of the Board is not required for the issuance of the arrest warrant. The warrant in question was not a deportation order but an initial step to apprehend the aliens and give them a chance to show cause why they should not be deported, with the final determination on deportation to be made by the Board of Commissioners. The prior decision of the Board of Commissioners admitting the petitioners did not constitute res judicata and did not bar reexamination of their right to stay. The proper remedy to test the legality of an alien’s confinement and proposed expulsion is a petition for habeas corpus, not a petition for mandamus with preliminary injunction. The preliminary injunctive writ was dissolved.