G.R. No.

135083 May 26, 1999

ERNESTO S. MERCADO, petitioner,

FACTS:

Eduardo Manzano was born of a Filipino father and a Filipino mother in San Francisco, California, and is considered
an American citizen under US Laws. Manzano is also a registered foreigner with the Bureau of Immigration.

In the May 11, 1998 elections, Ernesto S. Mercado, Eduardo B. Manzano & Gabriel V. Daza III were candidates for
vice mayor of the City of Makati. Manzano garnered the highest number of votes (103,853). However, the proclamation
of Manzano was suspended due to a pending petition for disqualification filed by Ernesto Mamaril alleging that
Manzano was not a citizen of the Philippines but of the United States.

Second Division of the COMELEC granted (May 7, 1998) the petition of Mamaril and ordered the cancellation of the
certificate of candidacy of Manzano on the ground that he is a dual citizen and, under §40(d) of the Local Government
Code, persons with dual citizenship are disqualified from running for any elective position.

Ground: American citizen based on the record of the Bureau of Immigration and misrepresented
himself as a natural-born Filipino citizen

Decision: Manzano is born a Filipino and a US citizen. In other words, he holds dual citizenship. Under
Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code, those holding dual citizenship are disqualified from
running for any elective local position.

The COMELEC (August 31, 1998), en banc rendered a resolution reversing the ruling of its Second Division and
declared private respondent qualified to run for vice mayor of the City of Makati in the May 11, 1998 elections.5

Grounds: US citizen by operation of the United States Constitution and laws under the principle of jus
soli. Filipino citizen by operation of the 1935 Philippine Constitution, as his father and mother were
Filipinos at the time of his birth under the principle jus sanguinis.

Decision: The alien certificate of registration did not result in the loss of his Philippine citizenship, as
he did not renounce Philippine citizenship and did not take an oath of allegiance to the United States.
When respondent attained the age of majority, he registered himself as a voter, and voted in the
elections of 1992, 1995 and 1998, which effectively renounced his US citizenship under American law.
Under Philippine law, he no longer had U.S. citizenship

In applying election laws, it would be far better to err in favor of the popular choice than be embroiled
in complex legal issues involving private international law which may well be settled before the highest
court (Cf. Frivaldo vs. Commission on Elections, 257 SCRA 727)

Petitioner contends that

[T]he COMELEC en banc ERRED in holding that:

A. Under Philippine law, Manzano was no longer a U.S. citizen when he:

1. He renounced his U.S. citizenship when he attained the age of majority when he
was already 37 years old; and,

2. He renounced his U.S. citizenship when he (merely) registered himself as a voter

C. At the time of the May 11, 1998 elections, the resolution of the Second Division adopted on 7 May
1998 was not yet final so that, effectively, petitioner may not be declared the winner even assuming
that Manzano is disqualified to run for and hold the elective office of Vice-Mayor of the City of Makati.

ISSUES:

1. Whether or not Manzano is qualified from the position for which he filed his certificate of candidacy.

RULING:

I. PETITIONER'S RIGHT TO BRING THIS SUIT

Manzano argues that petitioner has neither legal interest in the matter in litigation nor an interest to protect because
he is "a defeated candidate for the vice-mayoralty post of Makati City [who] cannot be proclaimed as the Vice-Mayor
of Makati City if the private respondent be ultimately disqualified by final and executory judgment."

The fact, however, is that there had been no proclamation at that time. Certainly, petitioner had, and still has, an
interest in ousting private respondent from the race at the time he sought to intervene. If Ernesto Mamaril (who
originally instituted the disqualification proceedings), a registered voter of Makati City, was competent to bring the
action, so was petitioner since the latter was a rival candidate for vice mayor of Makati City.

II. DUAL CITIZENSHIP AS A GROUND FOR DISQUALIFICATION

The disqualification of private respondent Manzano is being sought under §40 of the Local
Government Code of 1991 (R.A. No. 7160), which declares as "disqualified from running for any
elective local position: . . . (d) Those with dual citizenship." This provision is incorporated in the Charter
of the City of Makati. 8

Dual citizenship is different from dual allegiance. The former arises when, as a result of the concurrent application of
the different laws of two or more states, a person is simultaneously considered a national by the said states. 9 For
instance, such a situation may arise when a person whose parents are citizens of a state which adheres to the principle
of jus sanguinis is born in a state which follows the doctrine of jus soli. Such a person, ipso facto and without any
voluntary act on his part, is concurrently considered a citizen of both states.

Considering the citizenship clause (Art. IV) of our Constitution, it is possible for the following classes
of citizens of the Philippines to possess dual citizenship:

(1) Those born of Filipino fathers and/or mothers in foreign countries which follow the principle of jus
soli;

(2) Those born in the Philippines of Filipino mothers and alien fathers if by the laws of their father's'
country such children are citizens of that country;

(3) Those who marry aliens if by the laws of the latter's country the former are considered citizens,
unless by their act or omission they are deemed to have renounced Philippine citizenship.

Dual allegiance, on the other hand, refers to the situation in which a person simultaneously owes, by some positive
act, loyalty to two or more states. While dual citizenship is involuntary, dual allegiance is the result of an individual's
volition.
 With respect to dual allegiance, Article IV, §5 of the Constitution provides: "Dual allegiance of citizens
is inimical to the national interest and shall be dealt with by law."

The concern of the Constitutional Commission was not with dual citizens per se but with naturalized citizens who
maintain their allegiance to their countries of origin even after their naturalization. Hence, the phrase "dual citizenship"
in R.A. No. 7160, §40(d) and in R.A. No. 7854, §20 must be understood as referring to "dual allegiance." Consequently,
persons with mere dual citizenship do not fall under this disqualification. Unlike those with dual allegiance, who must,
therefore, be subject to strict process with respect to the termination of their status, for candidates with dual citizenship,
it should suffice if, upon the filing of their certificates of candidacy, they elect Philippine citizenship to terminate their
status as persons with dual citizenship considering that their condition is the unavoidable consequence of conflicting
laws of different states. By electing Philippine citizenship, such candidates at the same time forswear allegiance to
the other country of which they are also citizens and thereby terminate their status as dual citizens

SENATOR PIMENTEL. Well, the very fact that he is running for public office would, in effect, be an
election for him of his desire to be considered as a Filipino citizen.

SENATOR PIMENTEL. That is true, Mr. President. But if he exercises acts that will prove that he also
acknowledges other citizenships, then he will probably fall under this disqualification.

This is similar to the requirement that an applicant for naturalization must renounce "all allegiance and fidelity to any
foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty"

III. PETITIONER'S ELECTION OF PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP

Petitioner challenges this ruling. He argues that merely taking part in Philippine elections is not
sufficient evidence of renunciation and that, in any event, as the alleged renunciation was made when
private respondent was already 37 years old, it was ineffective as it should have been made when he
reached the age of majority.

In holding that by voting in Philippine elections private respondent renounced his American citizenship,
the COMELEC must have in mind §349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States,
which provided that "A person who is a national of the United States, whether by birth or naturalization,
shall lose his nationality by: . . . (e) Voting in a political election in a foreign state or participating in an
election or plebiscite to determine the sovereignty over foreign territory." To be sure this provision was
declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Afroyim v. Rusk 16 as beyond the power given
to the U.S. Congress to regulate foreign relations.

By filing a certificate of candidacy when he ran for his present post, private respondent elected Philippine citizenship
and in effect renounced his American citizenship.

“no law requires the election of Philippine citizenship to be made upon majority age”

By declaring in his certificate of candidacy that he is a Filipino citizen; that he is not a permanent resident or immigrant
of another country; that he will defend and support the Constitution of the Philippines and bear true faith and allegiance
thereto and that he does so without mental reservation, private respondent has, as far as the laws of this country are
concerned, effectively repudiated his American citizenship and anything which he may have said before as a dual
citizen.

The petition for certiorari is DISMISSED for lack of merit. 1âw phi 1.nêt