8/12/2019 Consti I Digest - Bengson / Bengzon v Cruz
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BENGSON VS. CRUZ BLOCK C 2018 CONSTI IGR NO. 142840. May 7,
2001
ISSUE FACTS RULINGPetitioner: Petitioner asserts thatrespondent
Cruz may no longer be
considered a natural-born Filipino sincehe lost his Philippine
citizenship whenhe swore allegiance to the United Statesin 1995,
and had to reacquire the sameby repatriation. He insists that
Article IV,Section 2 of the Constitution expresslystates that
natural-born citizens arethose who are citizens from birthwithout
having to perform any act toacquire or perfect such
citizenship.
Respondent: As distinguished from thelengthy process of
naturalization,repatriation simply consists of thetaking of an oath
of allegiance to theRepublic of the Philippines andregistering said
oath in the Local CivilRegistry of the place where the
personconcerned resides or last resided. Itresults in the
recovery/return of his
original status as a natural-born Filipino.
Issue: Whether respondent Cruz, anatural-born Filipino who
became anAmerican citizen, can still be considereda natural-born
Filipino upon hisreacquisition of Philippine citizenship.
Teodoro Cruz (respondent) was anatural born citizen of the
Philippines
under the 1935 Constitution. InNovember 5, 1985, he enlisted in
the USMarine Corps, took an oath of allegiancein the US, thereby
losing his FilipinoCitizenship (for rendering service ofaccepting
commission in the armedforces of another country). He
wasnaturalized as a US citizen butreacquired his Filipino
citizenshipthrough Repatriation (RA No. 2630). He
then ran for Congress in the SecondDistrict of Pangasinan in the
1998election, where he won by a convincingmargin against the
petitioner, AntonioBengson III.
Petitioner filed a case for Quo WarrantoAd Cautelam against the
House ofRepresentatives Electoral Tribunal,claiming that Cruz was
not qualified to
be a representative because he is not anatural-born citizen.
HRET dismissedhis petition, denied his motion forreconsideration
and declared Cruz asthe duly elected representative of
thedistrict.
Yes. Natural born citizens are those citizens of thePhilippines
from birth without having to perform
any act to acquire or perfect his Philippinecitizenship. In the
case of respondent Cruz,although he lost his Filipino citizenship
when herendered service in the Armed forces of the US,through
repatriation under RA No. 2630, hereacquired his Philippine
citizenship withouthaving to go through all the
naturalizationproceedings. As such, he possesses all the
necessaryqualifications to be elected a Representative.
