Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/82912444/coquilla-v-comelec
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 19:05:52+00:00

Document:
TEODULO M. COQUILLA, petitioner, vs. THE HON. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and MR. NEIL M. ALVAREZ, respondents. MENDOZA, J.: This is a petition for certiorari to set aside the resolution,1 dated July 19, 2001, of the Second Division of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), ordering the cancellation of the certificate of candidacy of petitioner Teodulo M. Coquilla for the position of mayor of Oras, Eastern Samar in the May 14, 2001 elections and the order, dated January 30, 2002, of the COMELEC en banc denying petitioners motion for reconsideration. The facts are as follows: Petitioner Coquilla was born on February 17, 1938 of Filipino parents in Oras, Eastern Samar. He grew up and resided there until 1965, when he joined the United States Navy. He was subsequently naturalized as a U.S. citizen.2 From 1970 to 1973, petitioner thrice visited the Philippines while on leave from the U.S. Navy.3 Otherwise, even after his retirement from the U.S. Navy in 1985, he remained in the United States. On October 15, 1998, petitioner came to the Philippines and took out a residence certificate, although he continued making several trips to the United States, the last of which took place on July 6, 2000 and lasted until August 5, 2000.4 Subsequently, petitioner applied for repatriation under R.A. No. 81715 to the Special Committee on Naturalization. His application was approved on November 7, 2000, and, on November 10, 2000, he took his oath as a citizen of the Philippines. Petitioner was issued Certificate of Repatriation No. 000737 on November 10, 2000 and Bureau of Immigration Identification Certificate No. 115123 on November 13, 2000.
The term "residence" is to be understood not in its common acceptation as referring to "dwelling" or "habitation,"21 but rather to "domicile" or legal residence,22 that is, "the place where a party actually or constructively has his permanent home, where he, no matter where he may be found at any given time, eventually intends to return and remain (animus manendi)."23 A domicile of origin is acquired by every person at birth. It is usually the place where the childs parents reside and continues until the same is abandoned by acquisition of new domicile (domicile of choice).24 In the case at bar, petitioner lost his domicile of origin in Oras by becoming a U.S. citizen after enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1965. From then on and until November 10, 2000, when he reacquired Philippine citizenship, petitioner was an alien without any right to reside in the Philippines save as our immigration laws may have allowed him to stay as a visitor or as a resident alien. Indeed, residence in the United States is a requirement for naturalization as a U.S. citizen. Title 8, 1427(a) of the United States Code provides: Requirements of naturalization. Residence (a) No person, except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, shall be naturalized unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his petition has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the State or within the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the application up to the time of admission to citizenship, and (3) during all the period referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. (Emphasis added) In Caasi v. Court of Appeals,25 this Court ruled that immigration to the United States by virtue of a "greencard," which entitles one to reside permanently in that country, constitutes abandonment of domicile in the Philippines. With more reason then does naturalization in a foreign country result in an abandonment of domicile in the Philippines.
of Makati City would substitute for a requirement mandated by the fundamental law itself. Fourth, petitioner was not denied due process because the COMELEC failed to act on his motion to be allowed to present evidence. Under 5(d), in relation to 7, of R.A. No. 6646 (Electoral Reforms Law of 1987), proceedings for denial or cancellation of a certificate of candidacy are summary in nature. The holding of a formal hearing is thus not de rigeur. In any event, petitioner cannot claim denial of the right to be heard since he filed a Verified Answer, a Memorandum and a Manifestation, all dated March 19, 2001, before the COMELEC in which he submitted documents relied by him in this petition, which, contrary to petitioners claim, are complete and intact in the records. III. The statement in petitioners certificate of candidacy that he had been a resident of Oras, Eastern Samar for "two years" at the time he filed such certificate is not true. The question is whether the COMELEC was justified in ordering the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy for this reason. We hold that it was. Petitioner made a false representation of a material fact in his certificate of candidacy, thus rendering such certificate liable to cancellation. The Omnibus Election Code provides: SEC. 74. Contents of certificate of candidacy. The certificate of candidacy shall state that the person filing it is announcing his candidacy for the office stated therein and that he is eligible for said office; if for Member of the Batasang Pambansa, the province, including its component cities, highly urbanized city or district or sector which he seeks to represent; the political party to which he belongs; civil status; his date of birth; residence; his post office address for all election purposes; his profession or occupation; that he will support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that he will obey the laws, legal orders, and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted authorities; that he is not a permanent resident or immigrant to a foreign country; that the obligation imposed by his oath is assumed voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that the facts stated in the certificate of candidacy are true to the best of his knowledge.
SEC. 78. Petition to deny due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy. A verified petition seeking to deny due course or to cancel a certificate of candidacy may be filed by any person exclusively on the ground that any material representation contained therein as required under Section 74 hereof is false. The petition may be filed at any time not later than twenty-five days from the time of the filing of the certificate of candidacy and shall be decided, after due notice and hearing, not later than fifteen days before the election. Indeed, it has been held that a candidates statement in her certificate of candidacy for the position of governor of Leyte that she was a resident of Kananga, Leyte when this was not so37 or that the candidate was a "natural-born" Filipino when in fact he had become an Australian citizen38 constitutes a ground for the cancellation of a certificate of candidacy. On the other hand, we held in Salcedo II v. COMELEC39 that a candidate who used her husbands family name even though their marriage was void was not guilty of misrepresentation concerning a material fact. In the case at bar, what is involved is a false statement concerning a candidates qualification for an office for which he filed the certificate of candidacy. This is a misrepresentation of a material fact justifying the cancellation of petitioners certificate of candidacy. The cancellation of petitioners certificate of candidacy in this case is thus fully justified. WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED and the resolution of the Second Division of the Commission on Elections, dated July 19, 2001, and the order, dated January 30, 2002 of the Commission on Elections en banc are AFFIRMED. SO ORDERED. Davide, Jr., C.J., Bellosillo, Puno, Vitug, Kapunan, Panganiban, Quisumbing, Ynares-Santiago, Sandoval-Gutierrez, Carpio, Austria-Martinez, and Corona, JJ., concur.
Petitioners U.S. passport for 1998-2008 shows the following dates of arrival in the Philippines and dates of departure for the United States: arrival - October 15, 1998, departure - November 3, 1998; arrival December 20, 1998 (with no record of corresponding departure); arrival October 16, 1999, departure - November 1, 1999; arrival - June 23, 2000, departure - July 6, 2000; arrival - August 5, 2000 (Records, pp. 227-228).
Petition, Annex O, p. 56. Id., Annex C, p. 34. Id., Annex H, p. 46. Resolution, p. 7-8; Rollo, pp. 30-31 (emphasis added). Bulaong v. COMELEC, 220 SCRA 745 (1993). Order, pp. 1-2; Rollo, pp. 32-33.
Internal Revenue v. Island Garment Manufacturing Corporation, 153 SCRA 665 (1987); Vda. de Espina v. Abaya, 196 SCRA 312 (1991).
A similar rule is found in Rule 19, 3 of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure.
201 SCRA 253 (1991). 312 SCRA 447 (1999). Uytengsu v. Republic, 95 Phil. 890, 894 (1954).
(f) The wife or the husband or the unmarried child under twenty-one years of age, of an alien lawfully admitted into the Philippines for permanent residence prior to the date on which this Act becomes effective and who is resident therein, if such wife, husband, or child applies for admission within a period of two years following the date on which this Act becomes effective; (g) A natural born citizen of the Philippines, who has been naturalized in a foreign country, and is returning to the Philippines for permanent residence, including the spouse and minor children, shall be considered a non-quota immigrant for purposes of entering the Philippines (As amended by Rep. Act No. 4376, approved June 19, 1965)."
Labo, Jr. v. COMELEC, 211 SCRA 297 (1992). 312 SCRA 447 (1999).
C.A. No. 63, 2. Records, pp. 227-228.
The COMELEC considered November 10, 2000 as the date of petitioners repatriation. Section 2 of R.A. No. 8171 provides, however, "Repatriation shall be effected by taking the necessary oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and registration in the proper civil registry and in the Bureau of Immigration. The Bureau of Immigration shall thereupon cancel the pertinent alien certificate of registration and issue the certificate of identification as Filipino citizen to the repatriated citizen."
257 SCRA 727 (1996). G.R. No. 142840, May 7, 2001. 54 Phil. 645 (1928). 248 SCRA 400, 429 (1995).

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