GR L 6272; (February, 1954) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-6272 February 22, 1954
TOMAS BATA LIANCO, alias TOMAS BATA, alias TOMAS LU, alias LU HUI, petitioner, vs. THE DEPORTATION BOARD, respondent.
FACTS
The petitioner, Tomas Bata Lianco, seeks to prohibit the Deportation Board from proceeding with deportation case No. R-442 against him. He filed a motion to dismiss, alleging he is a Filipino citizen, supported by a birth certificate and a passport, and contends that the Board thereby loses jurisdiction over his case. The deportation charges allege he is a foreign subject (specifically a Chinese citizen), an active communist, and that he smuggled 54 Chinese from Hongkong into Cañacao, Cavite around June 15, 1949, among other activities making him an undesirable alien.
ISSUE
Whether the Deportation Board loses jurisdiction to proceed with the deportation case upon the petitioner’s claim of Filipino citizenship.
RULING
The petition is denied. The Supreme Court held that:
1. The Deportation Board’s jurisdiction is limited to deportation cases against aliens. However, a mere claim of Filipino citizenship by the respondent does not automatically divest the Board of jurisdiction. The Board has the primary duty to determine the facts affecting its own jurisdiction, including the question of citizenship. The petitioner cannot invoke this duty and then complain when the Board decides the issue. If the Board finds the charges of undesirability unfounded, the case ends. If it finds him undesirable, the petitioner can appeal, and if the appeal fails, he may then seek relief via habeas corpus to litigate his citizenship claim. The legislative department has prescribed an investigation prior to deportation, and the petitioner had a fair opportunity to prove his citizenship during this investigation.
2. The documents presented (a birth certificate and a certification regarding a passport) do not conclusively establish the petitioner’s Filipino citizenship or his identity as the person named therein. The birth certificate is for a Tomas Bata born in Tabaco, Albay in 1910, with a mother named Segunda B. Sra. and “P.N.C.” (likely “Padre No Conocido”). The passport evidence is only a certification from the Commissioner of Immigration that a Philippine passport was issued to a Tomas Bata of Cotabato in 1947. These are insufficient to compel the Board to conclude the petitioner is a Filipino citizen.
3. The petitioner, being subject to an administrative proceeding, has not exhausted the remedies available therein. He only alleges the denial of his motion to dismiss and that the Board will proceed with the charges, but does not claim he was deprived of an opportunity to prove his citizenship, a fair hearing, or that a grave error of law was committed.
The writ is denied, with costs against the petitioner.