GR L 6162; (December, 1953) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-6162 December 29, 1953
In the matter of the petition of YU SINGCO, to be admitted as citizen of the Philippines. YU SINGCO, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents-appellees.
FACTS
Yu Singco, a Chinese citizen, filed a petition for naturalization in the Court of First Instance of Cotabato. The Government opposed the petition on the ground that he had lived an immoral life by maintaining two Chinese wives and having had an illicit relationship with one Pura Ortuoste, with whom he allegedly begot three children. While there was no evidence of the alleged relationship with Pura Ortuoste, there was evidence that the petitioner had a relationship with a certain Conception Cua, which resulted in the birth of five children. The petitioner did not deny this relationship or that the children were his. He admitted living in the same home with Conception Cua and giving her money, offering the excuse that he had received help from Cua’s father. The petitioner is married to Chua Hoc Ty, whom he married in Amoy, China in 1924, and with whom he has ten children. The trial court found the petitioner otherwise fully qualified for naturalization and granted the petition, viewing his support for the children with Conception Cua as evidence of a “grandeur of heart” and consciousness of responsibility.
ISSUE
Whether or not the petitioner has conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during his entire period of residence in the Philippines, as required by Section 2 of the Revised Naturalization Law.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court and denied the petition for naturalization. The Court held that the petitioner’s conduct could not be considered “proper and irreproachable” within the meaning of the law. The standard for such conduct is determined by the moral standards prevalent in the Philippines, not by the laws of the petitioner’s country of origin (where polygamy may be allowed). The Philippines, being predominantly Catholic and Christian, considers both seduction and bigamy as crimes and generally disapproves of a man and woman living together as husband and wife if unmarried. The Court found that the petitioner’s act of previously living with another woman (Conception Cua), having five children with her, and subsequently abandoning them to marry another, constituted conduct that is not proper and irreproachable, even if he provided support for the children. This disqualifies him from naturalization.