G.R. No. L-32734




Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila SECOND DIVISION G.R. No. L-32734 May 31, 1982 IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF CHUA TIONG KANG TO BE ADMITTED AS A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, CHUA TIONG KANG, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant. R E S O L U T I O N FERNANDO, C.J.: In this pending appeal by the Republic of the Philippines to reverse a lower court decision granting the application for citizenship of petitioner Chua Tiong Kang, the grounds alleged were lack of that sincere desire to embrace our customs and traditions, failure to file a declaration of intention and incompetency of witnesses. In view of the failure of appellee to file his brief, the case was thereafter deemed submitted for decision. On March 1, 1982, a Manifestation and Motion was filed by the Office of the Solicitor General ¹ with the following allegations: " 1. The Republic of the Philippines has appealed to this Honorable Court the decision of the Court of First Instance of Isabela, Branch II, dated July 22, 1963 granting Philippine citizenship to Chua Tiong Kang; 2. During the pendency of the appeal, said Chua Tiong Kang filed an application for naturalization under Letter of Instructions No. 270, and upon recommendation of the Special Committee on Naturalization, he was granted Philippine citizenship on December 19, 1977 pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1220. Copies of his Oath of Allegiance and Certificate of Naturalization are hereto attached as Annexes "1" and "2", respectively." ² The prayer is for its dismissal for having become moot and academic. WHEREFORE, the case is dismissed for being moot and academic. No costs. Barredo, Aquino, Guerrero, Abad Santos, De Castro and Escolin, JJ., concur. Concepcion, Jr., J., is on leave. Footnotes 1 Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza was assisted by Assistant Solicitor General Jose F. Racela, Jr. 2 Manifestation and Motion, 1. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation