Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2008 > December 2008 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 177786 : December 09, 2008] THEODORE M. AQUINO V. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND BENIGNO SIMEON C. AQUINO III:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of the Court En Banc dated December 9, 2008

" G.R. No. 177786 - THEODORE M. AQUINO v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and BENIGNO SIMEON C. AQUINO III.

On challenge via a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition under Rule 64 vis-a-vis Rule 65 of the Rules of Court is the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) en banc Resolution of May 11, 2007^[1] affirming that of its Second Division dated March 22, 2007^[2] which disqualified Theodore M. Aquino (petitioner) from running for Senator in the May 14, 2007 national and local elections, and canceled his certificate of candidacy primarily on the ground that he did not make a personal and sworn renunciation of his American citizenship at the time of the filing thereof, as required under Section 5(2) of Republic Act No. 9225 (R.A. 9225), otherwise known as the "CITIZENSHIP RETENTION AND REACQUISITION ACT OF 2003" or the Dual Citizenship Law.

Born in the Philippines of Filipino parents on November 9, 1948, petitioner grew up, studied, and lived in the Philippines until he migrated to the United States of America (USA) in 1971. He became an American citizen in 1973.

On September 17, 2003, petitioner took an oath of allegiance to the Republic ^[3] before Consul General Delia Me�ez Rosal at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, USA in order to reacquire his Filipino citizenship pursuant to Section 3 of R.A. 9225.^[4] On even date, petitioner also registered himself as an overseas absentee voter under Republic Act No. 9189 or the OVERSEAS ABSENTEE VOTING ACT OF 2003.

On January 15, 2007, petitioner filed with the COMELEC a certificate of candidacy for the position of Senator for the May 14. 2007 national and local elections.^[5] Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III (private respondent) also filed a certificate of candidacy for Senator on February 8, 2007.^[6]

Private respondent later filed with the COMELEC a petition to deny due course to, and/or cancel, the certificate of candidacy of petitioner, alleging, among other things, that petitioner had publicly declared himself to be an American citizen and had in fact been residing and doing business in the USA for the past 40 years; petitioner had never run for any public office in the Philippines, and was never endorsed by any political party; thus,he was incapable of seriously pursuing a national campaign for the position of Senator; and petitioner was a nuisance candidate with no bona fide intention to run as he was merely seeking to create confusion among the voters, he having the same surname as private respondent's.^[7]

Petitioner, in his Answer, denied all the allegations in private respondent's petition.

After the conduct of a hearing on the petition and the submission by the parties of their respective memoranda,^[8] the COMELEC Second Division, by Resolution dated March 22, 2007,^[9] disqualified petitioner from running for the position of Senator, thereby aiso canceling his certificate of candidacy.

In ruling against petitioner, the COMELEC Second Division held that, among other things, he failed to make a personal and sworn renunciation of his foreign citizenship at the time of the filing of his certificate of candidacy pursuant to Section 5(2) of R.A. 9225.^[10] Petitioner tiled a motion for reconsideration^[11] of the COMELEC Second Division Resolution.to which private respondent filed an Opposition ^[12]  which merited a Reply13 from him. Private respondent filed a Rejoinder.^[14]

In the meantime, the COMELEC Law Department issued a Certified List of Candidates for Senators for the May 14, 2007 elections (Certified List),^[15] which did not include the name of petitioner. Petitioner thereupon filed an urgent motion with the COMELEC en banc for the immediate inclusion of his name in the Certified List,^[16] claiming that his filing of a motion for reconsideration of the COMELEC Second Division's Resolution of March 22, 2007 effectively prevented his disqualification and the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy from attaining finality, citing Alan Peter Cayetano v. Joselito Pepito Cayetano^[17] Almost simultaneously, petitioner's counsel wrote a letter to the COMELEC Law Department ^[18] also requesting the inclusion of petitioner's name in the Certified List, citing again Cayetano.

By Resolution of May 11, 2007,^[19] the COMELEC en banc denied petitioner's motion for reconsideration for having been filed out of time, noting that while petitioner declared in his motion for reconsideration that he received on March 22, 2007 a copy of the COMELEC Second Division Resolution of even date, he filed his motion for reconsideration only on March 31, 2007, or beyond the five-day period prescribed by Sections 5 and 7 of Republic Act No. 6646 (R.A. 6646) or the ELECTORAL REFORMS LAW OF 1987.^[20] In any event, the COMELEC en banc found petitioner's motion bereft of merit. Hence, the present petition which submits the issue of whether the COMELEC en banc committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction:

1

. . . WHEN IT DENIED PETITIONER'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION ON THE GROUND THAT THE SAME WAS FILED OUT OF TIME

II

. . . WHEN IT RULED THAT PETITIONER IS DISQUALIFIED TO RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE WHEN HE FAILED TO RENOUNCE HIS FOREIN CITIZENSHIP

Private respondent presses on the summary dismissal of the petition on the ground of mootness, the May 14, 2007 elections having been held and the winners proclaimed. Petitioner concedes the mootness of the petition. He beseeches the Court, however, to still resolve the issues, as they are likely to recur in future elections.

Indeed, the petition has become moot.

Parenthetically, the constitutionality of R.A. 9225 in general has already been upheld in AASJS (Advocates and Adherents of Social Justice for School Teachers and Allied Workers) Member - Hector Gumangan Calilung v. Datumanong^[21]. And the failure of a candidate to comply with the additional requirement of making a personal and sworn renunciation of all foreign citizenship at the time of filing the certificate of candidacy has been resolved in Lopez v. COMELEC ^[22] which held that the same is fatal to the candidate's qualification.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED.

Corona & Azcuna, JJ., on official leave.    

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Endnotes:

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^[1] Rollo, pp. 36-41.

^[2] Ibid., pp. 42-48.

^[3] Id. at 332.

^[4] Section 3 of R.A. 9225 provides:

 
^[5] Rollo.p. 113

^[6] Ibid., p. 112.

^[7] Id. at 42.

^[8] Id. at 89-90,

^[9] Supra note 2.

^[10] Ibid.

^[11] Rollo, pp. 50-76.

^[12] Ibid., pp. 184-188.

^[13] Id. at 189-200.

^[14] Id. at 201-207.

^[15] Id. at 208 -209.

^[16] Id. at 210-218.

^[17] COMELEC SPA Nos. 07-017, 10 May 2007.

^[18] Rollo, p. 219.

^[19] Supra note 1.

^[20] Sections 5 and 7 of R.A. 6646 provide in relevant parts:

^[21] G.R. No. 160869. 11 May 2007, 523 SCRA 108.

^[22] G.R. No. 182701.23 July 2008.