Republic, the person implicitly renounces his foreign
citizenship. Plainly, Sec. 3 stays clear out of the problem of
dual allegiance and shifts the burden of confronting the
issue of whether or not there is dual allegiance to the
concerned foreign country. What happens to the other
citizenship was not made a concern of
RA 9225.
7.
Attack on one’s citizenship may be made only
through a
direct, not a collateral proceeding
Co v. HRET, 199 SCRA 692
Facts:
The HRET declared that respondent Jose Ong, Jr. is a natural
born Filipino citizen and a resident of Laoang, Northern
Samar for voting purposes. The congressional election for
the second district of NorthernSamar was held. Among the
candidates who vied for the position of representative in the
second legislativedistrict are the petitioners, Sixto Balinquit
and Antonio Co and the private respondent, Jose Ong, Jr.
RespondentOng was proclaimed the duly elected
representative of the second district of Northern Samar. The
petitioners filed election protests on the grounds that Jose
Ong, Jr. is not a natural born citizen of thePhilippines and not
a resident of the second district of Northern Samar.
Issue:
Whether or not Jose Ong, Jr. is a citizen of the Philippines.
Whether the decision of HRET is appealable;
Held:
Yes. In the year 1895, the private respondent’s
grandfather, Ong Te, arrived in the Philippines from China
and established his residence in the municipality of Laoang,
Samar. The father of the private respondent, Jose Ong
Chuan was born in China in 1905 but was brought by Ong Te
to Samar in the year 1915, he filed withthe court an
application for naturalization and was declared a Filipino
citizen.In 1984, the private respondent married a Filipina
named Desiree Lim. For the elections of 1984 and1986, Jose
Constitutional Law 1
based on the syllabus of Atty. Remoroza
2018-
2019
84
Merzy’s
Notes
Prelim Exam
Ong, Jr. registered himself as a voter of Laoang, Samar, and
voted there during those elections.Under the 1973
Constitution, those born of Filipino fathers and those born of
Filipino mothers with analien father were placed on equal
footing. They were both considered as natural born citizens.
Besides, privaterespondent did more than merely exercise
his right of suffrage. He has established his life here in the
Philippines.On the issue of residence, it is not required that a
person should have a house in order to establish
hisresidence and domicile. It is enough that he should live in
the municipality or in a rented house or in that of afriend or
relative. To require him to own property in order to be
eligible to run for Congress would be tantamountto a
property qualification. The Constitution only requires that
the candidate meet the age, citizenship, voting and
residence requirements..
Yes. The Constitution explicitly provides that the House of
Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) and the Senate
Electoral Tribunal (SET) shall be the sole judges of all
contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications
of their respective members. In the case at bar, the Court
