The
use of a foreign passport after taking the oath of
allegiance and executing an affidavit of renunciation under Republic Act No.
9225, or the "Citizenship
Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003," is a positive act showing the applicant's continued possession of a foreign citizenship.
While it does not divest him of his reacquired Filipino citizenship, it negates
his qualification to run for an elective post or be appointed to a government
position. This, in a nutshell, is the ruling in the 2013 case of Maquiling vs. Comelec, et. al. (G.R. No.
195649), penned by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno.
In
the Maquiling case, it has been established that private respondent Rommel
Arnado is a natural born Filipino citizen. Subsequently, however, he was
naturalized as a US citizen, thereby losing his Filipino citizenship. In July 2008,
with the intention for repatriation, he took his oath of allegiance to the
Republic of the Philippines. His application was approved. In April 2009, he again
took an oath of allegiance and executed an affidavit of renunciation of his US citizenship.
In November 2009, he filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor in a certain
town in Mindanao.
In
April 2010, another mayoralty candidate (and also private respondent), Linog
Balua, sought the disqualification and/or the cancellation of Arnado’s cerficate
of candidacy. Apparently, Arnado used his US passport in entering and leaving
the Philippines between the period April 2009 and June 2009, July 2009 and
November 2009, January 2010 and March 2010. Balua presented as evidence a
computer-generated travel record and a certification from the Bureau of
Immigration and Deportation (BID).
In
so declaring that Arnado is disqualified from holding public office and even
from being a candidate during the 2010 elections, C.J. Sereno explained:
“Between
03 April 2009, the date he renounced his foreign citizenship, and 30 November
2009, the date he filed his COC, he used his US passport four times, actions
that run counter to the affidavit of renunciation he had earlier executed. By
using his foreign passport, Arnado positively and voluntarily represented
himself as an American, in effect declaring before immigration authorities of
both countries that he is an American citizen, with all attendant rights and
privileges granted by the United States of America.”
xxx
“While
the act of using a foreign passport is not one of the acts enumerated in
Commonwealth Act No. 63 constituting renunciation and loss of Philippine citizenship,
it is nevertheless an act which repudiates the very oath of renunciation
required for a former Filipino citizen who is also a citizen of another country
to be qualified to run for a local elective position.
“When
Arnado used his US passport on 14 April 2009, or just eleven days after he
renounced his American citizenship, he recanted his Oath of Renunciation that
he “absolutely and perpetually renounce(s) all allegiance and fidelity to the
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and that he “divest(s) [him]self of full employment
of all civil and political rights and privileges of the United States of
America.”
“We
agree with the COMELEC En Banc that such act of using a foreign passport does
not divest Arnado of his Filipino citizenship, which he acquired by
repatriation. However, by representing himself as an American citizen, Arnado
voluntarily and effectively reverted to his earlier status as a dual citizen.
Such reversion was not retroactive; it took place the instant Arnado
represented himself as an American citizen by using his US passport.”
With that, C.J. Sereno passionately said:
“The
renunciation of foreign citizenship is not a hollow oath that can simply be
professed at any time, only to be violated the next day. It requires an
absolute and perpetual renunciation of the foreign citizenship and a full divestment
of all civil and political rights granted by the foreign country which granted
the citizenship.”
xxx
“Citizenship is not a matter of convenience. It is a badge of identity that
comes with attendant civil and political rights accorded by the state to its
citizens. It likewise demands the concomitant duty to maintain allegiance to
one’s flag and country. While those who acquire dual citizenship by choice are
afforded the right of suffrage, those who seek election or appointment to
public office are required to renounce their foreign citizenship to be
deserving of the public trust. Holding public office demands full and undivided
allegiance to the Republic and to no other.”
