GR L 25551; (May, 1968) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-25551 May 29, 1968
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION TO BE ADMITTED A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, CHAN DE, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Chan De, a Chinese national, filed a petition for naturalization on February 11, 1960. The government initially did not oppose. The Court of First Instance of Manila granted the petition on October 15, 1960. Two years later, when Chan De filed a petition to take his oath of allegiance, the government opposed, assailing his conduct and moral character. The lower court overruled the opposition and allowed the oath-taking, prompting the government’s appeal. Chan De arrived in the Philippines on December 20, 1934. He married his first wife, Ong Siok Ha, in China in 1936; she died in Manila in 1945. He allegedly married his second wife, Ong Siu King, in China in 1946 and again in Manila in 1947. He had children with both wives and resided in Manila, where he conducted a mercantile business with an average annual income of about P8,000.00.
ISSUE
Whether Chan De is eligible to be admitted as a naturalized citizen of the Philippines.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the appealed order and dismissed the petition for naturalization. The Court held that Chan De’s ineligibility was established by several fatal anomalies: (1) A gap in the evidence of his irreproachable conduct, as his vouching witnesses could only testify about his behavior from 1944 and 1949 onwards, leaving at least ten years from his 1934 arrival unaccounted for, contrary to the requirement of irreproachable conduct during the entire stay in the country. (2) His use of another name, “Chua Tu Lai,” in his first wife’s death certificate, which he failed to disclose in his naturalization petition, thereby precluding persons who knew him by that alias from coming forward with derogatory information and vitiating the publication requirements. His attempt to justify this act was deemed misbehavior. (3) His enrollment of his children in schools with predominantly Chinese student populations (72%, 84%, and 82%), which negates a sincere desire to embrace Filipino customs, traditions, and ideals. These grounds sufficed to disqualify him from Philippine citizenship.