GR L 24805; (May, 1968) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-24805 May 23, 1968
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR ADMISSION TO PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP. YAP PUEY ENG, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Petitioner Yap Puey Eng filed a petition for naturalization. The Court of First Instance found him to possess all qualifications and none of the disqualifications under the Revised Naturalization Law and granted him Philippine citizenship. The State appealed.
ISSUE
1. Whether the petitioner’s failure to allege all his former places of residence in his petition is fatal to his application.
2. Whether the petitioner has evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace Filipino customs, traditions, and ideals.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment and dismissed the petition for naturalization.
1. On the Failure to Allege Former Residences: The petition stated petitioner’s present residence as Ozamis City and former residence as Amoy, China. However, petitioner testified that he resided in Guba, Clarin, Misamis Occidental during the Japanese occupation (1941-1945) and studied in Cebu City from 1929 to 1931. Section 7 of the Revised Naturalization Law requires a petition to state petitioner’s “present and former places of residence,” which encompasses all places where petitioner actually and physically resided. This requirement is crucial as it provides the public and government a fair opportunity to investigate petitioner’s background and register objections. Failure to allege a former place of residence is fatal to the application as it affects the court’s jurisdiction.
2. On the Sincere Desire to Embrace Filipino Customs: The evidence showed that petitioner enrolled all his children in Chinese schools (Cebu Gospel School/Cebu Kian Kee High School, Ozamis City Chinese School, and Misamis Chinese High School). Established jurisprudence holds that enrolling an applicant’s children in Chinese schools raises the inference that the applicant has not evinced a sincere desire to embrace Filipino customs, traditions, and ideals, which is a disqualification in a citizenship application.
For these reasons, the petition was dismissed. Costs were imposed against the petitioner.