Bengson III v. HRET
G.R. No. 142840
May 7, 2001
Facts:
· April 27, 1960
o Teodoro Cruz was born a natural-born citizen of the Philippines in Tarlac
o Both his parents are Filipino
· November 5, 1985
o Cruz enlisted in the US Marine Corps without the consent of PH and took an oath of allegiance to USA
o As per CA 63, Section 1(4), he lost his PH citizenship by rendering service to or accepting commission in the armed forces of a foreign country
· June 5, 1990
o Cruz was naturalized as a US citizen
· March 7, 1994
o Cruz acquired PH citizenship through repatriation under RA 2630
· 1998
o Cruz ran for and was elected as representative of the 2nd district of Pangasinan
o He defeated Antonio Bengson III
· Bengson III filed a petition for quo warranto ad cautelam
o Contention: Cruz is not qualified to be a member of HRET since he is not a natural-born citizen under Article VI, Section 6 of the Constitution, which provides
No person shall be a member of the House of Representatives unless he is a natural-born
citizen of the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at least twenty-five years of
age, able to read and write, and except the party-list representatives, a registered voter in
the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less
than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.
Issue:
Can Cruz, a natural-born Filipino who became an American citizen, be considered a natural-born Filipino upon his reacquisition of Philippine citizenship?
Ruling:
Yes. A natural-born citizen is one who at the time of his birth is a citizen of a particular country without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect such citizenship.
There are two ways of acquiring citizenship: (1) by birth and (2) by naturalization.
Naturalization is a mode for both acquisition and reacquisition of PH citizenship.
Naturalization
1. As a mode of initially acquiring PH citizenship
· Governed by CA 473
2. As a mode of reacquiring PH citizenship
· Governed by CA 63
CA 63 enumerates 3 modes by which PH citizenship may be reacquired by a former citizen:
1. By naturalization
2. By repatriation
3. By direct act of Congress
Repatriation may be reacquired by those who lost citizenship due to the following:
1. Desertion of the armed forces
2. Service in the armed forces of the Allied forces in WWII
3. Service in the US armed forces at any other time
4. Marriage of a Filipino woman to an alien
5. Political and economic necessity
The effect of repatriation is the recovery of the original nationality.
According to Section 1 of RA 2630, Cruz may reacquire his PH citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and registering the same with the local civil registry. Thus, Cruz recovered his original status as a natural-born citizen, which he reacquired at birth.
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