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MERE reacquisition of one’s Filipino citizenship
does not satisfy the constitutional requirement on elective
positions, even for the lowly post of barangay captain.
The Supreme Court, in a
seven-page en banc resolution penned by Associate Justice Ruben
Reyes, upheld the ruling of the Commission on Elections
disqualifying Eusebio Eugenio Lopez as village chief of Barangay
Bagacay, San Dionisio, Iloilo.
“A Filipino-American or
any dual citizen cannot run for any elective
public position in the Philippines unless he or she personally
swears to a renunciation of all foreign citizenship at the time
of filing the certificate of candidacy,” the High Tribunal
explained.
Records show that Lopez regained
his Filipino citizenship through Republic Act 9225, the Citizenship
Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, more popularly known as the
Dual Citizenship Law.
He ran and won as barangay
chairman in the elections held last October 29, 2007.
On October 25, 2007, respondent
Tessie Villanueva filed a petition before the Provincial Election
Supervisor of the province of Iloilo, seeking for the
disqualification of Lopez on the ground that he is an American
citizen, hence, ineligible from running for any public office.
In his answer, Lopez argued that
he is a dual citizen and possessed the qualifications to run for
barangay chairman.
On February 6, 2008, the Comelec
granted the petition for disqualification against Lopez, saying that
“he was not able to regain his Filipino citizenship in the manner
provided by law.”
The poll body said the
petitioner, to be able to qualify as a candidate in the elections,
should have made a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all
foreign citizenship.
In his petition for review before
the High Tribunal, Lopez cited the case of Vallez v. Comelec. He
argued that his filing of a certificate of candidacy operated as an
effective renunciation of foreign citizenship.
But the High Tribunal said “the
operative facts that led to this Court’s ruling in [the] Valles
[case] are substantially different from the present case.”
“In [the] Valles [case], the
candidate, Rosalind Ybasco Lopez, was a dual citizen by accident of
birth on foreign soil. Lopez was born of Filipino parents in
Australia,” the High Tribunal explained.
“In contrast, petitioner was
born a Filipino but he deliberately sought American citizenship and
renounced his Filipino citizenship. He later on became a dual
citizen by reacquiring Filipino citizenship.”
The High Tribunal also stressed
that its 2000 ruling in the Valles case has been superceded by the
enactment of R.A. No. 9225 in 2003, which expressly provides for the
conditions before those who reacquired Filipino citizenship may run
for public office in the Philippines.
--William B. Depasupil
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