GR L 2785; (January, 1951) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2785; January 31, 1951
JOSE CLEVIO MANLIO SQUILLANTINI, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Jose Clevio Manlio Squillantini, born in Manila on June 29, 1923, to Italian parents, was taken to Italy at 14 months old in 1924 and returned to the Philippines in 1926, thereafter residing continuously with his parents in Cebu. Since August 1947, he resided in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, as branch manager of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. On December 3, 1947, he filed his petition for naturalization in this case. During the hearing on December 8, 1948, questioning by the provincial fiscal revealed that the petitioner had resided in Negros Occidental for more than one year from the date of the hearing, but only about five months from the date he filed his petition. The Court of First Instance granted the naturalization. The Solicitor General appealed, contending that the court had not acquired jurisdiction over the case.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental acquired jurisdiction to hear the petition for naturalization, given that the petitioner had resided in that province for only about five months immediately preceding the filing of his petition.
RULING
No. The Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental did not acquire jurisdiction. Under Section 8 of the Revised Naturalization Law (Commonwealth Act No. 473), the Court of First Instance of the province in which the petitioner has resided for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of the petition has original and exclusive jurisdiction. The one-year residence requirement must be counted from the date of the filing of the petition, not from the date of the hearing. Since the petitioner had resided in Negros Occidental for only about five months before filing his petition, the court of that district did not acquire competence over the case. Jurisdiction is conferred by law and cannot be bestowed by the petitioner’s choice, the provincial fiscal’s acquiescence, or the presiding judge’s condescension. The petition is dismissed.