G.R. No. L-11642




Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC G.R. No. L-11642 November 28, 1959 In re: Petition to be Admitted a Citizen of the Philippines. BOON BING NG LIN, petitioner and appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor and appellant. Genebraldo, Genebraldo and Marasigan for appellee. Acting Solicitor General Guillermo E. Torres and Solicitor Eriberto D. Ignacio for appellant. PADILLA, J.: The Government appeals from a decree of the Court of First instance of Davao that grants the petition of Boon Bing Ñg Lin to be a Filipino citizen by naturalization (case No. 76). On 26 June 1954, the appellee filed in the Office of the Solicitor General a sworn declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization (Exhibit M). On 28 June 1955 he filed a sworn petition for naturalization in the Court of First Instance of Davao. After publication in the Official Gazette issues of November and December 1955 and January 1956 (Exhibit D) and in the "Mindanao Times," a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, on 24 September and 1 and 8 October 1955 (Exhibit E), and hearing on 26 July 1956, the Court entered a decree granting the petition of the appellee to became a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization. The brief filed by the Acting Solicitor General restates the facts established by the evidence, as follows: Petitioner Boon Bing Ñg Lim, then 30 years old at the time of the hearing of this petition, arrived in Davao, Davao, on April 2, 1936 (Exhibit F), on board the Japanese vessel "Mitsui Maru", from Hoysan, Canton, China, where he was born on May 5, 1926 (pp. 24, 25, t. s. n.); that after arrival, he studied and finished in 1941 his elementary education at the Digos Elementary School (p. 29, t.s.n.); that he knows to speak English, Visayan, and a little Tagalog (p. t.s.n.; Exhibits L, I); that he is a merchant since 1950 and has paid his corresponding income taxes from 1950 to 1955 (Exhs. G, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, G-5, H, H-1, pp. 26, 27, t. s. n.); that he owns a commercial building valued at P6,000 erected on the lot of one Mr. Estrada in Digos, Davao (pp. 27, 28, t. s. n.; Exhs. I, J), and a bakery and cafeteria capitalized at more or less P20,000 (p. 29, t.s.n.); that he has paid the corresponding taxes for his properties with the commercial treasurer of Digos, Davao (p. 29, t.s.n.; Exhibits K, K-1); that he is married to Rosario Torralba, a Filipina, with whom he has five (5) children, the eldest named Boon Bing Ñg Lin, Jr. already of school age, and is studying at the Digos Elementary School (pp. 33, 34, 35, t.s.n.; Exhs. R, R-1); that he is not a polygamist; that he mixes socially with the Filipinos; that he believes in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution; that he is a member of the local Parents-Teachers Association and also of other civic organizations like the committee on town fiesta, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and helps in fund-raising drives for the Red Cross, TB Fund and Educational Fund Drive (pp. 36, 37, t.s.n.; Exhs. U, U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, V, W, W-1 and X); that he possesses an alien certificate of registration (Exh. T) and an immigrant certificate (Exh. S, p. 35; t.s.n.); that he is a member of the Intelligence Unit of Southern Davao (p. 39, t.s.n.; Exh. Z); that he has never left the Philippines since his arrival in Digos in 1936 (p. 39, t.s.n.); that he desires to become a Filipino citizen because he had allegedly mixed with the Filipinos, his wife is a Filipina and considers this country his own and wants to die here; that not one of his children knows how to speak Chinese and all of his employees are Filipinos, except one (p. 40, t.s.n.); that he desires to embrace the Filipinos customs, traditions and ideals such fiestas, and calag-calag; that he has never associated with the persons opposed to organized government (p. 42, t.s.n.); that he promises to send all his minor children to a public school (pp. 43, 44, t.s.n.); and that he knows how to sing the Philippine National Anthem (p. 44, t.s.n.). Messrs. Irineo Limbo, Fidel P. Amparo and Ricardo Macias testified that the petitioner is of good moral character; has mingled socially with the Filipinos; and have continously associated with him since 1937 up to the present time, except witness Fidel P. Amparo who lost contact with petitioner during the Japanese occupation (pp. 1, 5, 9, 14, 17, t.s.n.). Dr. Juan Crisologo, a long time resident of Digos, Davao (p. 46, t.s.n.), who knew petitioner since 1949, testified as to his (petitioner's) quarrelsome with other boys (p. 47, t.s.n.); that sometime in 1954, he ordered his houseboy, Leonides Solier, to buy a can of butter from petitioner's store, which upon opening was found to be rancid (p. 48, t.s.n.); that he thereupon ordered the butter returned (pp. 48, 49, t.s.n.); that instead of returning the butter, petitioner insisted that it is good and began insulting the boy before he reluctantly returned the doctor's money (p. 49, t.s.n.); and that petitioner does not mix with the Filipinos but with members of the Chinese community, being a Chinese at heart (p. 51, t.s.n.). (Pp. 2-5.) . The Acting Solicitor General points out the failure of the appellee to present the alien certificate of registration of his wife and his five minor children or to register them as aliens in the Bureau of Immigration — a failure which shows non-compliance with the law and, in the view of counsel for the Government, disqualifies the appellee from becoming a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization. And the failure of the appellee to enumerate the three branches of the Government when asked by the Fiscal, other than answering that the Philippines is a Republican Government; the lack of evidence to show that the appellee knows the principles underlying our Constitution, our form of Government and the way of life it safeguard and guarantees; his continous association with the Chinese community in the place of his residence; and his quarrelsome character, are circumstances which, in the opinion of counsel for the Government, are sufficient to deny the petition of the appellee to become a citizen of the country by naturalization — the same being a privilege and not a right. The failure of the appellee to register his wife and five minor children as aliens in the Bureau of Immigration which counsel for the Government draws from his failure to present alien certificates of registration of his wife and children is not sufficient to disqualify the appellee form becoming a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization, because compliance with the laws of the country need not be enumerated as in a bill of particulars. He has presented his income tax return for 1950 to 1955 (Exhibits G, G-1 to G-5), tax receipts (Exhibits H, I, J, K), certificates by the clerk of the Court of First Instance of Davao (Exhibit N) an acting Justice of the Peace of Digos (Exhibit O) that he has no criminal record, by the chief of police of Digos that he is a law abiding citizen (Exhibit P), and by the municipal health officer of Digos that he is free from communicable disease (Exhibit Q); a marriage certificate attesting that he is married to Rosario Torralba, a Filipino citizen (Exhibit R); his landing certificate of residence (Exhibit F); his immigrant certificate of residence (Exhibit S); and his alien certificate of registration (Exhibit I), all of which shows that he had complied with the laws of the country. And granting that his wife and five minor children are not registered as aliens in the Bureau of Immigration and have no alien certificates of registration, that alone would not disqualify the appellee from becoming a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization.¹ The failure of the appellee to enumerate the three branches of the Government; the lack of evidence to show his knowledge of the principles it safeguards and guarantees; his continous association with the Chinese community where he resides and lives; and his quarelsome character are not sufficient to disqualify him from becoming a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization, because such failure and lack of evidence do not constitute disqualification for citizenship by naturalization for he was not being tested on his proficiency in political science; such association does not exclude the association with Filipinos as found by the trial court; and such character is not proved by a single act which may be the result of the mood a person may be in at a certain moment of his life. The appellee is, therefore, entitled under the facts established by the evidence to be a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization. The decree appealed from granting the petition of the appellee to become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization is affirmed, without pronouncement as to costs. Paras, Bengzon, C.J., Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Endencia, and Gutierrez David, JJ., concur. Footnotes ¹ Chay Guan Tan vs. Republic 101 Phil., 164; 53 Off. Gaz., 6107. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation