Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-20478 June 29, 1967
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION OF NEMESIO HUANG (UY).
NEMESIO HUANG (UY), petitioner and appellee,
vs.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor and appellant.
Office of the Solicitor General Arturo A. Alafriz, Assistant Solicitor General Pacifico P. de Castro and Solicitor C. S. Gaddi for oppositor and appellant.
Sycip, Salazar, Luna and Associates for petitioner and appellee.
DIZON, J.:
Appeal taken by the Republic of the Philippines from the order of the Court of First Instance of Manila in Civil Case No. 21127 dated October 12, 1962 dismissing its petition to declare null and void the final decision rendered therein and to cancel the certificate of naturalization issued to Nemesio Huang (Uy) in accordance therewith, on ground of lack of jurisdiction because the publication the notice of hearing on the petition for naturalization the Official Gazette was made only once.
It is admitted that on November 2, 1953, Nemesio Huang (Uy) filed a petition for naturalization with the Court First Instance of Manila (Civil Case No. 21127). On November 6 of the same year the court ordered that the corresponding notice of hearing be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette. Said notice was actually published only once in the Official Gazette in its No. 11, Vol. 49 monthly issue. After trial, the court rendered its decision admitting appellee to Philippine citizenship, and after the same had become final and executory and due hearing was had, appellee took his oath of allegiance on September 1, 1956.
The present petition for cancellation of appellee's certificate of naturalization was filed on May 10, 1962 the State relying on our ruling in Ong Son Cui vs. Republic, G.R. No. L-9858, May 29, 1957, to the effect that one publication in the Official Gazette was insufficient to confer jurisdiction to the court a quo to try and decide the petition.1äwphï1.ñët
In view of our recent ruling in the Gan Tsitung case (G.R. No. L-20819) to the effect that "the doctrine laid down in the Ong Son Cui case shall apply and affect the validity of certificates of naturalization issued after, not on or before, May 29, 1957" and that "certificates of naturalization issued on or before May 29, 1957, even if notice of the petition for naturalization had been published once only . . . should not be nullified," We find the order appealed from to be in accordance with law. Consequently, the same is hereby affirmed, without costs.
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez and Castro, JJ., concur.
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