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In re Ching, Bar Matter No. 914 Philippine citizenship can never be treated like a commodity that can be claimed
Petition for Admission to the Phil Bar. when needed and suppressed when convenient. It should be availed of with fervor,
enthusiasm and promptitude.
FACTS:
April 1964: Vicente D Ching born as the legitimate son of sps Tat Ching, Chinese
citizen, and Prescila Dulay, Filipina, in La Union. Since birth, Ching has resided Moya Lim Yao alias Edilberto Aguinaldo Lim, and Lau Yuen Yeung v.
in the Phils Commissioner of Immigration (1971)
July 1998: Ching, after graduating from St. Louis University in Baguio City, filed Appeal from a decision of CFI of Manila
an application to take the ’98 Bar Examinations.
Sept 1998: Court allowed Ching to take the exams provided he must submit FACTS:
proof of his Phil citizenship Feb 1961: Ms Lau Yuen Yeung, HK Chinese, applied for a passport temporary
Nov 1998: Ching submitted certification that he is CPA, Voter Cert from visa to enter Phils as non-immigrant. Purpose of pleasure trip was to visit her
COMELEC, and Cert as a member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Tubao, La great grand uncle Lau Ching Ping for a month.
Union also from COMELEC. March 1961: Visa granted. Expiration date after 1 month – April 13, 1961. Visa’s
April 1999: results of Bar Exams were released and Ching passed. He was expiry extended many times.
further required to submit more proof of citizenship. Date of her arrival: bond of P1,000 filed by Asher Cheng to ensure her departure
July 1999: Ching filed Manifestation w/ Affidavit of Election of Phil Citizenship before visa expires.
and his Oath of Allegiance. Jan 25, 1962: Lau Yuen Yeung married Moya Lim Yao, a Filipino citizen.
OSG commented that Ching being the “legitimate child of a Chinese father and a Feb 28, 1962: Final date of visa expiration.
Filipino mother and born under the 1935 Consti was a Chinese citizen and Commissioner of Immigration ordered plaintiff Lau Yuen Yeung to leave the
continued to be so, unless upon reaching the age of majority he elected Phil Phils, cause her arrest and immediate deportation.
citizenship. If Ching formally elects Phil citizenship, it would already be beyond Plaintiff brings this action to court for issuance of writ of injunction.
the reasonable time allowed by present jurisprudence. Court hearing 10 months after the marriage: Plaintiff is 7 mos pregnant.
Two conditions of an effective election of Phil citizenship (from OSG): Furthermore, she was found unable to write either English or Tagalog. She could
1st – the mother of the person making the election must be a Phil citizen not name any Filipino neighbour except for one, Rosa. She did not know the
2nd – election must be made upon reaching the age of majority (w/c means a names of her bros/sisters-in-law.
reasonable time interpreted by the Sec of Justice as 3 yrs, from the Velayo
case, and may be extended up to 7 yrs, from the Cuenco case ISSUES:
1) WON plaintiff may be deemed a Phil citizen by virtue of her marriage to a Filipino
ISSUES: 2) If affirmative, WON her marriage to co-plaintiff justified or excused her failure to
1) WON Ching has elected Phil citizenship w/in a reasonable time depart from the Phils before date of expiration of visa.
2) If affirmative, WON his citizenship has retroacted to the time he took the bar.
HELD: Judgment dismissing petition for injunction reversed and set aside. Lau Yuen
HELD: Court denies Vicente D Ching’s application for admission to the Philippine Bar Yeung declared to have become a Filipino citizen from and by virtue of her marriage
(ouch!) to Moya Lim.
RATIO: RATIO:
1& 2) No, Ching’s election was clearly beyond, by any reasonable yardstick, the 1) Alein woman who marries a Fil citizen, native-born or naturalized, ipso facto
allowable pd w/in which to exercise the privilege. Being born in April 1964, he was becomes a Filipina provided she is not disqualified to be a citizen of the Phils
already 35 yrs old when he complied w/ the requirements of C.A. No 625 in June ’99. under Sec 4 of C.A. 473. Likewise, an alien woman married to an alien who is
He was already more then 14 yrs over the age of majority. subsequently naturalized here follows the Phil citizenship of her husband the
Although the Court is sympathetic of his plight, controlling statues and jurisprudence moment he takes his oath as Fil citizen, provided that she does not suffer from
compel the Court in its decision. Also, Ching has offered no reason why he delayed any of the disqualifications under Sec.4.
his election of Phil citizenship, the latter not being a tedious and painstaking process. The basis of the judgment is Sec 15 of the Naturalization Law, w/c in turn was
taken directly, copied verbatim and adopted from its American counterpart. From
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I
the history of the law traced in the case, it is shown that the American provision the American law, decidedly favorable to the absorption of immigrants is not in our
shows intent to remove racial requirements for naturalization. Hence, settled is Consti and laws.
the rule in statutory construction that laws if modelled and copied from another
state law must be understood and construed in the jurisdiction which they were
taken.
2) Yes, there is no reason why an alien who has been in the Phils as a temporary
visitor but who has in the meanwhile become Filipino should be required to still
leave the Phils for a foreign country, only to apply for a re-entry and undergo the
same process of showing that he is entitled to come back. Consider the case of
minor children of an alien who is naturalized: It is obvious that they become ipso
facto citizens of the Phils. It is unreasonable that they still have to be taken
abroad so that they have a right to have permanent residence here.
Naturalization of an alien visitor as a Phil citizen logically produces the effect of
conferring upon the person ipso facto all the rights of citizenship including
entitlement to permanently stay in the Phils outside the orbit of authority of the
Comm of Immigration because the Immigration Law is a law only for aliens and
is inapplicable to Phil citizens.
In reference, Sec 9 of the Immigration Act states:
An alien who is admitted as a non-immigrant cannot remain in the Phils
permanently. To obtain permanent admission, a non-immigrant alien must first
depart voluntarily to some foreign country & procure from the appropriate Phil
consul the proper visa & thereafter undergo examination by the officers of the
Bureau of Immigration at a Phil port of entry for determination of his admissibility
in accordance w/ the requirements of this Act.