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The document discusses a court ruling on whether a person named Carait who has dual citizenship in the Philippines and US by birth is eligible to run for elected office in the Philippines. The court ruled that R.A. 9225 which requires renouncing foreign citizenship does not apply to Carait since she did not acquire her US citizenship through naturalization but by birth, so she did not make a false statement and is qualified to run for office.

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Nica Krystel Malabunga
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30 views2 pages

DIGEST

The document discusses a court ruling on whether a person named Carait who has dual citizenship in the Philippines and US by birth is eligible to run for elected office in the Philippines. The court ruled that R.A. 9225 which requires renouncing foreign citizenship does not apply to Carait since she did not acquire her US citizenship through naturalization but by birth, so she did not make a false statement and is qualified to run for office.

Uploaded by

Nica Krystel Malabunga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FACTS

At the outset, the following are the uncontroverted facts:


1) Carait was born on June 25, 1991 in Makati City to a father who is a
Filipino citizen, and a mother who is an American citizen.
2) There is, in the COMELEC case records, a CRBA issued on August 23,
2004 by Vice Consul Catherine Graham which states that Carait “acquired
United States citizenship at birth as established by documentary evidence
presented to the Consular Service of the United States at Manila, Philippines
on August 23, 2004”
3) Carait did not make a personal and sworn renunciation of her foreign
citizenship prior to filing her CoC for the 2019 NLE.

COMELEC contends that Carait is covered by R.A. 9225, under the second
category of natural-born Filipinos covered by R.A. 9225. However, Carait
stated that the law does not apply to her because she did not acquire her US
citizenship through naturalization. Rather, she is a dual citizen by birth, having
performed no positive act to acquire her foreign citizenship. She further
contends that the COMELEC's finding that she acquired her American
citizenship by naturalization is baseless.

To recall, the COMELEC cancelled the CoC of Carait after finding that she
misrepresented therein that she is eligible to run for the subject local office
when she is not. In finding that she is not so eligible, the COMELEC referred
to the qualifications for an elective local office under Section 3972 of the LGC,
specifically that “an elective local official must be a citizen of the Philippines.”
It then concluded that Carait's failure to comply with the twin requirements of
R.A. 9225 renders her ineligible to run for elective office.

Likewise, the main issue raised in the Petition to wit:


1. Whether Carait became a US citizen through naturalization?

RULING

As R.A. 9225 states “Those seeking elective public office in the Philippines
shall meet the qualifications for holding such public office as required by the
Constitution and existing laws and, at the time of the filing of the certificate of
candidacy, make a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign
citizenship before any public officer authorized to administer an oath”

The court ruled on whether Carait acquired her US citizenship, and therefore
her status as a dual citizen is by birth or through naturalization in which
anchored on the allegations of the COMELEC that she committed false
material representation when she claimed in her CoC that she was eligible to
run for elective office despite her failure to renounce her American citizenship
in accordance with the requirements under R.A. 9225.

However, the high court refuted the poll body, attesting that Gana-Carait is
still a dual citizen by birth. It also found that the mother’s actions are not
considered a naturalization process but “a mere presentation of documentary
evidence” to establish that Gana-Carait is also an American citizen. Having
said so, the court ruled that as a dual citizen by birth, Gana-Carait is thus
considered a Filipino qualified to run for public office. Hence, she could not be
said to have made a false representation in her COC.

In conclusion, R.A. 9225 and its requirements to run for public office apply
only to natural-born Filipinos who became naturalized foreign citizens and had
thereby sworn allegiance to the concerned foreign state. There being no proof
showing that Carait became an American citizen through the process of
naturalization, these requirements cannot apply to her. Thus, Carait did not
commit false material representation in her CoC, hence, the COMELEC
committed grave abuse of discretion in cancelling the same.

Therefore, COMELEC gravely abused its discretion in cancelling Carait's CoC


due to her alleged false representation in her CoC that she is eligible for the
office sought. Her failure to comply with the requirements of R.A. 9225 to run
for public office does not render her ineligible because a) she is not covered
by R.A. 9225 as she did not acquire her American citizenship through
naturalization and b) even on the assumption that she is so covered, her non-
renunciation of her American citizenship as required under Section 5 does not
divest her of her status as a Filipino citizen and therefore, she remains in full
possession of the qualifications for the subject office under Section 39 of the
LGC. F

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