G.R. No. 229364 - People vs. De Vera

1992 Election (EPC No. 92-54): Opposition petitioned to annul her election for alleged Australian citizenship. COMELEC dismissed for lack of proof she renounced Philippine citizenship.
1995 Election (SPA No. 95-066): Similar challenge. COMELEC First Division reiterated earlier findings and dismissed.
1998 Election (SPA No. 98-336): Petitioner Valles filed new disqualification petition. COMELEC First Division (July 17, 1998) and en banc (January 15, 1999) dismissed for absence of new substantive evidence. Petitioner sought SC certiorari.

Whether private respondent is a Filipino citizen under the 1987 Constitution.
Whether her 1988 applications for an Alien Certificate of Registration, Immigrant Certificate of Residence, and Australian passport constitute express renunciation of Philippine citizenship.
Whether her renunciation of Australian citizenship and filing of certificate of candidacy restored Philippine citizenship.
Whether prior COMELEC resolutions on the same issue are binding under res judicata.
Whether dual citizenship under Republic Act No. 7160 disqualifies her from local office.

1987 Constitution, Article IV (jus sanguinis principle)
Commonwealth Act No. 63 (modes of loss of Philippine citizenship)
Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code) Section 40(d)
Organic Acts (Philippine Bill of 1902; Jones Law of 1916)
Jurisprudence: Aznar v. COMELEC; Mercado v. Manzano; Moy Ya Lim Yao v. Commissioner of Immigration; Burca v. Republic

The Philippine Bill of 1902 and Jones Law deemed all inhabitants descended from Spanish-subject residents as Philippine citizens.
Private respondent’s father was born in Camarines Norte in 1879, making him Philippine citizen under those laws.
Jus sanguinis, adopted in the 1935 Constitution and retained in the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, confers citizenship on children of Filipino parents regardless of birthplace.
Her Australian birth did not abrogate her Philippine citizenship; at most she held dual citizenship.

Commonwealth Act No. 63 requires express renunciation to lose Philippine citizenship.
Applications for alien registration and foreign passport are mere assertions of foreign nationality, not express acts of renunciation (Aznar; Mercado).
Dual citizenship, as involuntarily imposed by conflicting foreign laws, does not amount to “dual allegiance” disqualification under RA 7160 (Mercado).
Filing a certificate of candidacy entails an oath to support the Philippine Constitution, effectively renouncing foreign citizenship.
Private respondent formally renounced Australian citizenship on January 15, 1992; her Australian passport was canceled February 11, 1992.

Petitioner Cirilo R. Valles seeks certiorari under Rule 65, Section 2, Rule 64 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
He assails two COMELEC resolutions (July 17, 1998 and January 15, 1999) in SPA No. 98-336 dismissing his petition to disqualify Rosalind Ybasco Lopez from the May 1998 gubernatorial race in Davao Oriental.
The Supreme Court must decide whether COMELEC correctly declared Lopez a qualified Filipino citizen.

Rosalind Ybasco Lopez was born May 16, 1934 in Broome, Western Australia, to Telesforo Ybasco (Filipino from Daet, Camarines Norte) and Theresa Marquez (Australian).
She migrated to the Philippines in 1949 at age fifteen and married Leopoldo Lopez (Filipino) on June 27, 1952.
Actively engaged in elections as voter, candidate, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member; elected governor of Davao Oriental in 1992 and re-elected in 1995 and 1998.

1992 quo warranto (EPC 92-54) challenged Lopez’s citizenship; COMELEC en banc dismissed for lack of proof of renunciation of Filipino citizenship.
1995 disqualification petition (SPA 95-066) similarly contested her citizenship; COMELEC First Division dismissed, reaffirming EPC 92-54 findings.

Petitioner reasserted same citizenship allegations in SPA 98-336.
COMELEC First Division (July 17, 1998) dismissed the petition for want of new evidence, applying res judicata arguendo.
COMELEC en banc (January 15, 1999) denied reconsideration, prompting this Supreme Court petition.

Whether Rosalind Ybasco Lopez lost or renounced her Philippine citizenship and remains disqualified to hold public office.
Whether her acts (ACR registration, ICR application, holding an Australian passport) constitute express renunciation.
Whether res judicata bars re-litigation of her citizenship in successive elections.

Petitioner contends Lopez declared herself Australian in 1988 (ACR No. 404695; ICR; Australian Passport No. H700888), thus renouncing Philippine citizenship and disqualifying her under Local Government C