Article IV - Citizenship

180
Petitioners: JUAN GALLANOSA FRIVALDO Respondents: COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND THE LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES, SORSOGON CHAPTER, HEREIN REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, SALVADOR NEE ESTUYE G.R. No: 87193 SCRA Location: 174 SCRA 245 Date: 3 June 1989 Facts: Juan G. Frivaldo, according to his application for candidacy, was a natural-born Filipino. He was elected as Governor of Sorsogon in 1988. Eight months after he was sworn into the position, it was found out that he was not a Filipino citizen, as such his position as Governor of the province was contended by the private respondents and that he should be disqualified. In 1983, he was naturalized as an America citizen, while in exile in the United States, in order to avoid prosecution during the Martial Law years. After the EDSA Revolution, he returned back to the Philippines and helped restore the country back to its glory. Frivaldo asserted that by joining the election, he had renounced his American citizenship. Issue: Whether or not Juan G. Frivaldo was a citizen of the Philippines at the time of his election on January 18, 1988, as provincial governor of Sorsogon Ruling: No, Juan G. Frivaldo was not a citizen of the Philippines at the time of his election. Under CA No. 63 as amended by CA No. 473 and PD No. 725, Philippine citizenship may be reacquired by direct act of Congress, by naturalization, or by repatriation. Whereas, he did not do any steps in order to repatriate himself. In the words of the SC, the fact that he was elected by the people of Sorsogon does not excuse this patent violation of the salutary rule limiting public office and employment only to the citizens of this country. The qualifications prescribed for elective office cannot be erased by the electorate alone. The will of the people as expressed through the ballot cannot cure the vice of ineligibility, especially if they mistakenly believed, as in this case, that the candidate was qualified. Obviously, this rule requires strict application when the deficiency is lack of citizenship. If a person seeks to serve in the Republic of the Philippines, he must owe his total loyalty to this country only, abjuring and renouncing all fealty and fidelity to any other state. the status of the natural-born citizen is favored by the Constitution and our laws, which is all the more reason why it should be treasured like a pearl of great price. But once it is surrendered and renounced, the gift is gone and cannot be lightly restored. This country of ours, for all its difficulties and limitations, is like a jealous and possessive mother. Once rejected, it is not quick to welcome back with eager arms its prodigal if repentant children. The returning renegade must show, by an express and unequivocal act, the renewal of his loyalty and love.

Constitutional Law II | Khristine Tiu