Roa vs. Insular Collector of Customs

G.R. No. 7011
Tranquilino Roa, born in the Philippines to a Chinese father and Filipino mother, was deemed a Philippine citizen by birth and right to elect citizenship upon majority, overturning deportation orders.
citizenship birthright nationality

Case Digest (G.R. No. 7011)

Facts:

Tranquilino Roa v. Insular Collector of Customs, G.R. No. 7011, October 30, 1912, the Supreme Court, Trent, J., writing for the Court. The petitioner-appellant, Tranquilino Roa, was born in Luculan, Mindanao, on July 6, 1889. His father, Basilio Roa Uy Tiong Co, was a native of China; his mother, Basilia Rodriguez, was a native of the Philippine Islands. The parents were married in the Philippines and domiciled there at the time of Tranquilino’s birth. The father left for China circa 1895 and died there about 1900. In May 1901 the mother sent Tranquilino to China to study; he always intended to return.

Tranquilino arrived at Cebu from Amoy, China, on the steamship Kaifong on October 1, 1910, a few days short of 21 years and 3 months, and sought admission. A board of special inquiry found him to be a Chinese subject and not entitled to land; the Insular Collector of Customs affirmed that finding and refused him landing. The Court of First Instance of Cebu, in habeas corpus proceedings, recommitted the appellant to the custody of the Collector and declared the Collector’s right to effect deportation. The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court.

The factual background was undisputed: birth in the Philippine Islands to a Chinese father and native mother, the father’s death while appellant was a minor, the appellant’s temporary residence in China for study, and his attempt to reenter the Philippines in 1910. The administrative determinations applied the Spanish Civil Code articles on nationality and the U.S. immigration/Chinese exclusion ...(Pro-only)

Issues:

  • Under the applicable law, was Tranquilino Roa a citizen of the Philippine Islands by virtue of his birth in 1889 to a domiciled Chinese father and a native mother?
  • If not ipso facto a citizen at birth under former Spanish law, could he, upon attaining majority (after his father’s death and his mother’s reacquisition of her native nationality), elect to be a citi...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

  • (Pro-only)

Ratio:

  • (Pro-only)

Doctrine:

  • (Pro-only)
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