G.R. No. L-37223




Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila SECOND DIVISION G.R. No. L-37223 March 25, 1982 IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF CHUA SIONG TEE alias CHUA SIONG BEE alias VICENTE CHUA TO BE ADMITTED A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, CHUA SIONG TEE, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant. R E S O L U T I O N FERNANDO, C.J.: In this appeal by the Republic of the Philippines from a lower court decision granting the petition for naturalization of appellee Chua Siong Tee, as well as from its subsequent order "granting the petition for naturalization of petitioner," ¹ it was alleged that his witnesses are incompetent and that petitioner, now appellee, had not conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of his residence here. The case was submitted for decision after the filing of the briefs. Subsequently, on January 21, 1982, there was a Manifestation and Motion by the Office of the Solicitor General. ² It alleged: "1. The Republic of the Philippines has appealed to this Honorable Court the decision of the Court of First Instance of Cebu (Branch IX — Toledo City) dated March 8, 1972 granting Philippine citizenship to [Chua Siong Tee] alias [Chua Siong Bee] alias [Vicente Chua]; 2. During the pendency of the appeal, said [Chua Siong Tee] alias [Chua Siong Bee] alias [Vicente Chua] filed an application for naturalization under Letter of Instructions No. 270, and upon recommendation of the Special Committee on Naturalization, he was granted Philippine citizenship on November 26, 1976 pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1055. ... ." ³ Such pleading included copies of his Oath of Allegiance ⁴ and the Certificate of Naturalization. ⁵ The prayer is to have this case dismissed for having become moot and academic. So it should be. WHEREFORE, this case is dismissed for being moot and academic. No costs. Barredo, Aquino, Concepcion, Jr., De Castro, Ericta and Escolin, JJ., concur. Abad Santos, J., is on leave. Footnotes 1 Record on Appeal 42. 2 Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza was assisted by Assistant-Solicitor General Eulogio Raquel-Santos. 3 Manifestation and Motion, 1. 4 Annex 1. 5 Annex 2. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation