Case Digest (G.R. No. 92191-92)
Facts:
Antonio Y. Co v. Electoral Tribunal of the House of Representatives and Jose Ong, Jr., G.R. Nos. 92191-92 and 92202-03, July 30, 1991, the Supreme Court En Banc, Gutierrez, Jr., J., writing for the Court.Petitioners Antonio Y. Co and Sixto T. Balanquit, Jr. were unsuccessful candidates in the May 11, 1987 congressional election for the Second District of Northern Samar; the private respondent Jose Ong, Jr. was proclaimed the duly elected representative. The petitioners filed election protests with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) asserting that Ong was not a natural-born Filipino and was not a resident of the district; the HRET, after hearings, issued a decision on November 6, 1989 finding Ong to be a natural-born Filipino and a resident of Laoang, Northern Samar, and denied the petitioners’ motion for reconsideration in a resolution dated February 22, 1990.
Dissatisfied, petitioners filed petitions for certiorari with the Supreme Court seeking annulment of the HRET decision for grave abuse of discretion. The Court treated respondents’ comments as answers and resolved the case on the merits. The Court’s decision includes a majority opinion by Justice Gutierrez, Jr., a concurring opinion by Justice Sarmiento, and a dissent by Justice Padilla joined by Justices Narvasa, Paras, and Regalado; several Justices recused or took no part.
The HRET’s factual findings considered (a) the Ong family history tracing the grandfather Ong Te’s residence in Laoang from 1895 and a committee report of the 1971 Constitutional Convention; (b) the naturalization of Ong’s father, Jose Ong Chuan, by the Court of First Instance of Samar (decision April 28, 1955; order final and executory May 15, 1957), and Section 15 of the Revised Naturalization Law (C.A. 473) which automatically naturalized minor children upon a parent’s naturalization; and (c) Ong Jr.’s voter registrations and periodic return visits to Laoang, his continued family residence there and business interests, and his long-standing social assimilation in the municipality.
The Supreme Court considered jurisdictional limitations created by Article VI, Section 17 (the Tribunals as sole judges of qualifications) against its power under Article VIII, Section 1 to correct grave abuse of discretion, reviewed relevant constitutional provisions on citizenship (Art. IV, Secs. 1–2), naturalization statutes (C.A. 473), an...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to review the HRET’s decision on qualifications under the Constitution?
- Did the HRET commit grave abuse of discretion in holding that Jose Ong, Jr. is a natural-born Filipino citizen?
- Did the HRET commit grave abuse of discretion in holding that Jose Ong, Jr. was a resident (domiciled) of Laoang, Northern Sa...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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