Maquiling vs. Commission on Elections

Facts:

Casan Macode Maquiling v. Commission on Elections, Rommel Arnado y Cagoco, Linog G. Balua, G.R. No. 195649, April 16, 2013, the Supreme Court En Banc, Sereno, C.J., writing for the Court.

Petitioner Casan Macode Maquiling (Maquiling) intervened in a COMELEC disqualification proceeding against respondent Rommel Cagoco Arnado (Arnado), whose certificate of candidacy (COC) for Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte in the May 10, 2010 elections was attacked by respondent Linog G. Balua (Balua). Balua petitioned the COMELEC on April 28, 2010 to disqualify Arnado for lack of residency and for being a foreigner; Balua produced Bureau of Immigration travel records showing continued use of a United States passport.

Arnado is a natural-born Filipino who had become a naturalized U.S. citizen and later applied for repatriation under R.A. No. 9225. He took an Oath of Allegiance on July 10, 2008 and again on April 3, 2009, and executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of his U.S. citizenship on April 3, 2009. Despite those acts, immigration records showed he used U.S. Passport No. 057782700 to travel in and out of the Philippines on multiple dates between April and November 2009; he filed his COC on November 30, 2009. After elections Arnado received the highest number of votes and was proclaimed mayor; Maquiling placed second.

The COMELEC First Division (Resolution dated October 5, 2010) treated the petition as one for disqualification, found Arnado’s post-renunciation use of a U.S. passport indicative that he did not truly renounce U.S. citizenship, granted the petition, annulled Arnado’s proclamation, and directed application of the order of succession under Section 44 of the Local Government Code. Arnado moved for reconsideration before the COMELEC En Banc; Maquiling intervened and sought to be proclaimed winner if Arnado were disqualified.

The COMELEC En Banc (Resolution dated February 2, 2011) accepted intervention, held the petition timely under Sec. 6, R.A. No. 6646, but reversed the First Division and granted Arnado’s motion for reconsideration: it ruled that Arnado’s renunciation under R.A. No. 9225 made him a Filipino and that his use of a U.S. passport did not automatically revoke that renunciation; the En Banc thus reinstated Arnado’s qualification. The En Banc issued a separate concurrence (Chairman Brillantes) favoring an assimilative presumption of continued Philippine citizenship and a dissent (Commissioner Sarmiento) contending the passport use negated renunciation and disqualified Arnado.

Maquiling filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 64 in conjunction with Rule 65 of the Rules of Court to annul the ...(Pro-only)

Issues:

• Is intervention by a rival candidate allowed in a disqualification case?
• Does the use of a foreign passport after renouncing foreign citizenship affect one’s qualifications to run for public office (i.e., does it undo the renunciation under R.A. No. 9225 and/or amount to reversion to dual citizenship disqualifying a candidate under Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code)?
• If the candidate is disqualified, does the rule on succession under Section 44 of the Local Government Code apply or shou...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

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Ratio:

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Doctrine:

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