Title
Maquiling vs. Commission on Elections
Case
G.R. No. 195649
Decision Date
Apr 16, 2013
Rommel Arnado, a repatriated Filipino, disqualified from mayoral race after using U.S. passport post-renunciation, reverting to dual citizenship. Maquiling declared winner as qualified second-placer.
disqualification
renunciation
repatriation

Case Summary (G.R. No. 195649)

Factual Background

Rommel Arnado y Cagoco was a natural-born Filipino who later became a naturalized citizen of the United States and thereby lost Philippine citizenship under prior law. He applied for repatriation under R.A. No. 9225, took the Oath of Allegiance on 10 July 2008, and again on 03 April 2009, and executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of his U.S. citizenship on 03 April 2009. Between 14 April 2009 and 24 November 2009 he used a U.S. passport on several departures and arrivals documented in Bureau of Immigration records. He filed his Certificate of Candidacy for Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte on 30 November 2009. At the May 10, 2010 elections he received the highest number of votes and was proclaimed mayor; the returns showed Arnado with 5,952 votes and Maquiling with 5,357 votes. Balua filed a petition to disqualify or cancel Arnado’s certificate of candidacy, alleging nonresidency and foreign citizenship, and submitted Bureau of Immigration travel records and certifications.

Proceedings before the COMELEC First Division

The COMELEC First Division treated Balua’s filing as a petition for disqualification rather than merely cancellation for misrepresentation. It dismissed Balua’s residency claim for lack of proof but found that Arnado’s repeated use of his U.S. passport after his Affidavit of Renunciation effectively negated that renunciation. The First Division concluded that the continued passport use indicated lack of real intention to renounce U.S. citizenship and held Arnado disqualified. The Division annulled his proclamation and ordered that succession under Section 44 of the Local Government Code take effect.

Motions, Intervention and the COMELEC En Banc

Arnado sought reconsideration before the COMELEC En Banc and Maquiling intervened, asserting that if Arnado were disqualified the votes for him should be stray and Maquiling, as the highest-placed qualified candidate, should be proclaimed. The COMELEC En Banc invoked Section 6 of R.A. No. 6646 to continue proceedings despite proclamation. The En Banc reversed the First Division, granted Arnado’s motion for reconsideration, and held that by renouncing U.S. citizenship under R.A. No. 9225 Arnado became a pure Philippine citizen and that subsequent use of a U.S. passport did not operate to “un-renounce” his earlier renunciation. The En Banc accepted Arnado’s explanation that his Philippine passport was issued on 18 June 2009 but he obtained it only later, and noted his subsequent use of the Philippine passport. COMELEC Chairman Sixto Brillantes issued a separate concurrence invoking the assimilative principle of continuity of citizenship; Commissioner Sarmiento dissented, concluding that the passport use evidenced nonabandonment of U.S. allegiance and thus disqualification.

Petition to the Supreme Court and Legal Questions

Petitioner Casan Macode Maquiling filed a petition for certiorari under Rule 64 in conjunction with Rule 65, alleging grave abuse of discretion by the COMELEC En Banc in declaring Arnado qualified despite use of a U.S. passport, and seeking his proclamation as duly elected mayor. The Court identified three central issues: (1) whether intervention by a rival candidate in a disqualification case is proper; (2) whether use of a foreign passport after renouncing foreign citizenship affects a person’s qualifications to run for public office; and (3) whether the succession rule of Section 44 of the Local Government Code applies where a proclaimed candidate is later disqualified.

The Supreme Court’s Ruling — Disposition

The Court granted the petition. It annulled and set aside the COMELEC En Banc Resolution dated 02 February 2011. The Court declared that respondent Rommel Arnado y Cagoco was disqualified from running for any local elective position and ordered that Casan Macode Maquiling be proclaimed the duly elected Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte for the 10 May 2010 elections. The decision was made immediately executory and directed service of copies upon the parties and the Commission on Elections.

Legal Basis and Reasoning — Citizenship, Renunciation, and Passport Use

The Court analyzed Section 5(2) of R.A. No. 9225, which requires those who retain or re-acquire Philippine citizenship and seek elective public office to meet constitutional qualifications and to make a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign citizenship at the time of filing the certificate of candidacy. The Court recognized that upon compliance with the twin requirements of taking the Oath of Allegiance and executing an Affidavit of Renunciation, an individual is deemed solely a Filipino citizen for purposes of eligibility. That presumption, however, is open to attack when, after renunciation, the person performs positive acts demonstrating continued possession of foreign citizenship. The Court characterized the use of a foreign passport as a positive and voluntary act of representation as to nationality. Although passport use is not among the enumerated acts in Commonwealth Act No. 63 that effect loss of Filipino citizenship, it nevertheless repudiates the very oath of renunciation required of a former Filipino who naturalized abroad and seeks elective local office. The Court found that Arnado used his U.S. passport four times between 03 April 2009 (the date of renunciation) and 30 November 2009 (the date of his COC). By using the foreign passport he represented himself to immigration authorities as an American, which the Court held effectively recanted his Oath of Renunciation. The Court emphasized that this reversion to dual status was contemporaneous with the passport use and not retroactive, and that at the time he filed his COC Arnado was therefore a dual citizen and disqualified under Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code from being a candidate for a local elective position.

Continuing Nature of Qualifications and the Effect of R.A. No. 9225

The Court reiterated the principle that qualifications for public office are continuing requirements and must exist at filing and during tenure. It construed R.A. No. 9225 as creating a presumption of sole Filipino citizenship upon proper renunciation, but not an immutable shield against later voluntary acts that repudiate the renunciation. The legislative deliberations reproduced in the record were read to show that Congress required the oath to effect re-acquisition but did not attempt to resolve dual allegiance under foreign law; it assumed that acts demonstrating continued allegiance to the foreign state can affect eligibility. The Court thus held that compliance with R.A. No. 9225 does not preclude subsequent acts, such as repeated passport use, from reopening the citizenship question.

The Court’s Rationale on Topacio, Succession, and the Second-Placer Rule

The Court re-examined the century-old statement in Topacio v. Paredes often quoted as barring transfer of the “wreath of victory” from an ineligible candidate to another. The Court concluded that the Topacio phrase was a comparative obiter dictum and not an absolute rule that prevents proclamation of a qualified second-placer where the successful candidate was never a valid candidate. The Court distinguished situations whe

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