Huang v. Republic
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Nemesio Huang (Uy) filed a petition for naturalization with the Court of First Instance of Manila. Procedural History: The court ordered the notice of hearing to be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette. However, the notice was published only once. After trial, the court rendered a decision admitting appellee to Philippine citizenship. Appellee took his oath of allegiance on September 1, 1956. The Petition: The Republic of the Philippines filed a petition to declare null and void the final decision and to cancel the certificate of naturalization, alleging lack of jurisdiction due to the single publication of the notice of hearing in the Official Gazette. The State relied on the ruling in Ong Son Cui vs. Republic.
Issue(s)
Whether the single publication of the notice of hearing in the Official Gazette was sufficient to confer jurisdiction to the court a quo to try and decide the petition for naturalization. Whether the certificate of naturalization issued to Nemesio Huang (Uy) should be nullified.
Ruling
The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Court of First Instance of Manila dismissing the petition to declare null and void the final decision and to cancel the certificate of naturalization. The Court held that the order appealed from was in accordance with law.
Ratio Decidendi
On the sufficiency of publication for jurisdiction: The Court, in resolving the issue of jurisdiction based on the publication of the notice of hearing, referred to its recent ruling in the Gan Tsitung case. This ruling clarified the application of the doctrine laid down in Ong Son Cui vs. Republic. The Gan Tsitung case established that the doctrine in Ong Son Cui would apply and affect the validity of certificates of naturalization issued after May 29, 1957. Conversely, certificates of naturalization issued on or before May 29, 1957, even if the notice of the petition for naturalization had been published only once in the Official Gazette, should not be nullified. Therefore, the single publication in this case, given the date of the naturalization, did not divest the court of its jurisdiction to render the decision. On the nullification of the certificate of naturalization: Based on the application of the Gan Tsitung doctrine, the certificate of naturalization issued to Nemesio Huang (Uy) on or before May 29, 1957, is considered valid despite the single publication. The petition for cancellation, which relied on the Ong Son Cui ruling, was therefore without merit. The Court found that the order appealed from, which dismissed the petition for cancellation, was in accordance with law. Consequently, the certificate of naturalization remains valid and subsisting.
Main Doctrine
Certificates of naturalization issued on or before May 29, 1957, even if the notice of the petition for naturalization had been published only once in the Official Gazette, should not be nullified, applying the doctrine in the Gan Tsitung case.