Petitioner Ernesto S. Mercado and private respondent Eduardo B.
Manzano were candidates
for vice mayor of the City of Makati in the May 11, 1998 elections.
proclamation of private respondent was suspended in view of a pending petition for
disqualification ( filed by Ernesto mamaril)
Mamaril alleged that Manzano was not a citizen of the Philippines but of the United States.
May 7, 1998…, the Second Division of the COMELEC granted the petition of Mamaril and
ordered the cancellation of the certificate of candidacy on the ground that he is a dual citizen.
The basis is Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code.
persons with dual citizenship are disqualified from running for any elective position.
Exact lines of The COMELEC’S Second division.
What is presented before the Commission is a petition for disqualification of Eduardo Barrios
Manzano as candidate for the office of Vice-Mayor of Makati City in the May 11, 1998
elections.
Based on the ground that the respondent is an American citizen based on the record of the
Bureau of Immigration and misrepresented himself as a natural-born Filipino citizen.
Petitioners answer April 27, 1998
Manzano admitted that he is registered as a foreigner with the Bureau of Immigration under
Alien Certificate of Registration No. B-31632 AND alleged that he is a Filipino citizen
because he was born in 1955 of a Filipino father and a Filipino mother.
Born in the United States, San Francisco, California, September 14, 1955, and is considered
in American citizen under US Laws.
But notwithstanding his registration as an American citizen, he did not lose his Filipino
citizenship.
From the foregoing facts, it would appear that respondent Manzano is born a Filipino and a
US citizen. In other words, he holds dual citizenship
Issue: whether under our laws, he is disqualified from the position for which he filed his certificate of
candidacy. Is he eligible for the office he seeks to be elected?
1st Ruling: The Commission hereby declares the respondent Eduardo Barrios Manzano
DISQUALIFIED as candidate for Vice-Mayor of Makati City.
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION : May 8, 1998, private respondent filed a motion for
reconsideration. Motion remained pending even until after the election held on May 11, 1998.
PETITIONER MERCADO INTERVENES MAY 19,1998
On May 19, 1998, Petitioner Mercado, the petitioner sought to intervene in the case for
disqualification.4 Petitioner's motion was opposed by private respondent.
The motion was not resolved.
Comelec en banc REVERSED THE RULING OF THE COMELEC EN BANC
August 31, 1998, the COMELEC en banc rendered its resolution. Voting 4 to 1, with one
commissioner abstaining.
reversed the ruling of its Second Division
Declared private respondent qualified to run for vice mayor of the City of Makati in the May
11, 1998 elections.
THE RESOLUTION OF THE COMELEC EN BANC
Eduardo Barrios Manzano was born in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. He acquired US
citizenship by operation of the United States Constitution and laws under the principle ofjus
soli.
a natural born Filipino citizen by operation of the 1935 Philippine Constitution, as his father
and mother were Filipinos at the time of his birth.
At the age of six (6), his parents brought him to the Philippines using an American passport
as travel document.
His parents also registered him as an alien with the Philippine Bureau of Immigration.
He was issued an alien certificate of registration.
This, did not result in the loss of his Philippine citizenship, as he did not renounce Philippine
citizenship and did not take an oath of allegiance to the United States.
When Mespondent attained the age of majority, he registered himself as a voter, and voted
in the elections of 1992, 1995 and 1998, which effectively renounced his US citizenship
under American law.
Under Philippine law, he no longer had U.S. citizenship.
Respondent Manzano obtained the highest number of votes among the candidates for vice-
mayor of Makati City.
Garnering one hundred three thousand eight hundred fifty three (103,853) votes over his
closest rival, Ernesto S. Mercado, who obtained one hundred thousand eight hundred ninety
four (100,894) votes, or a margin of two thousand nine hundred fifty nine (2,959) votes.
The commission declared respondent Eduardo Luis Barrios Manzano to be QUALIFIED as a
candidate for the position of vice-mayor of Makati City in the May 11, 1998, elections.
ACCORDINGLY, the Commission directs the Makati City Board of Canvassers, upon proper
notice to the parties, to reconvene and proclaim the respondent Eduardo Luis Barrios
Manzano as the winning candidate for vice-mayor of Makati City.
DUAL CITIZENSHIP AS A GROUND FOR DISQUALIFICATION
Disqualification of private respondent Manzano is being sought under §40 of the Local Government
Code of 1991 (R.A. No. 7160).
Declares as "disqualified from running for any elective local position: . . . (d) Those with dual
citizenship.
RULING
Clearly, in including §5 in Article IV on citizenship, the concern of the Constitutional
Commission was not with dual citizens per se but with naturalized citizens who maintain their
allegiance to their countries of origin even after their naturalization.
Hence, the phrase "dual citizenship" in R.A. No. 7160, §40(d) and in R.A. No. 7854, §20
must be understood as referring to "dual allegiance." Consequently, persons with mere dual
citizenship do not fall under this disqualification.
Consequently, persons with mere dual citizenship do not fall under this disqualification.
Difference Between the two
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
dual citizenship arises when, as a result of the concurrent application of the different laws of
two or more states.
such a situation may arise when a person whose parents are citizens of a state which
adheres to the principle of jus sanguinis is born in a state which follows the doctrine of jus
soli.
Such a person, ipso facto and without any voluntary act on his part, is concurrently
considered a citizen of both states.
"[D]ual citizenship is just a reality imposed on us because we have no control of the laws on
citizenship of other countries. We recognize a child of a Filipino mother. But whether she is
considered a citizen of another country is something completely beyond our control." --Ople
DUAL CITIZENSHIP CASES
(1) Those born of Filipino fathers and/or mothers in foreign countries which follow the principle of jus
soli;
(2) Those born in the Philippines of Filipino mothers and alien fathers if by the laws of their father's'
country such children are citizens of that country;
(3) Those who marry aliens if by the laws of the latter's country the former are considered citizens,
unless by their act or omission they are deemed to have renounced Philippine citizenship.
DUAL ALLEGIANCE
The situation in which a person simultaneously owes, by some positive act, loyalty to two or
more states.
Dual allegiance is the result of an individual's volition.
Those with dual allegiance, who must, therefore, be subject to strict process with respect to
the termination of their status, for candidates with dual citizenship, it should suffice if, upon
the filing of their certificates of candidacy, they elect Philippine citizenship to terminate their
status as persons with dual citizenship considering that their condition is the unavoidable
consequence of conflicting laws of different states.
Explanation of Commissioner Blas F. Ople
When I speak of double allegiance, therefore, I speak of this unsettled kind of allegiance of Filipinos,
of citizens who are already Filipinos but who, by their acts, may be said to be bound by a second
allegiance. Double allegiance is repugnant to our sovereignty and national security.
