IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF ANTONIO JAO ALIAS JAO TECK CHUAN TO BE ADMITTED A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES.  ANTONIO JAO ALIAS JAO TECK CHUAN, PETITIONER-APPELLEE, VS. REPUBL…

The Solicitor General has appealed from the decision of the Court
of First Instance of Cebu granting appellee’s petition for naturalization (Case No. 753). The
case was submitted without appellee’s brief in reply
to that of appellant.

Petitioner, a citizen of the Republic
of Nationalist China, was born of
Chinese parents in Binondo, Manila,
on December 7, 1921, and
baptized in the Chinese Church
of Binondo under the name of Antonio Jao Teck Chuan.  He took his primary course in De La Salle
College of Manila and his secondary and collegiate courses in the Far
Eastern University
where he obtained his degree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce.  On April
28, 1951 he married Susan Ng Siok Kun,
also a Chinese citizen, with whom he has four children, to wit:  Andrew, Alexander, Margaret and Melanie, the
first two being enrolled at the De La Salle College and the other two at St. Scholastica College, both in Manila.  Since 1956 petitioner and his wife have been
residing in Cebu, where he is
employed as salesman in the Ignacio Leyson Brokerage,
as a solicitor in the office of Santiago Go, Commercial Broker, and in the Lianga Bay Logging Company, Inc., with a monthly salary of
P550.00, P500.00 and P75.00, respectively, or a total of P1,125.00.  Two witnesses, Honorato
Suson and Facundo O. Perez,
vouched for his good moral character.

The issue to be resolved is whether or not petitioner has
satisfactorily shown that he has all the qualifications and none of the
disqualifications for naturalization.

The first objection raised by the Solicitor General is that although according to petitioner he was known in
school as Anthony Jao he was never officially
registered under this name, nor was it included in the publication of the
notice of his petition.  We do not
consider this objection of sufficient importance, since petitioner was baptized
Antonio Jao Teck Chuan, and
this is the name given in his petition as well as in the published notices
thereof.

The Solicitor General next draws attention to the evidence of
petitioner’s good moral character and conduct. 
It is a well settled rule that the evidence on this point must embrace
the entire period of the applicant’s residence in the Philippines
(Lim vs. Republic, L-22437, June 21, 1966; Republic vs. Hon. Andres Reyes,
L-20602, December 24, 1965; Vy Tian
alias Si Un vs. Republic, L-19918, July 30,
1965).  The two character witnesses in
this case testified that they first came to know the petitioner in 1946, when
he was already 25 years old, and even then used to
meet him only occasionally, until he transferred to Cebu in 1956. 
Consequently they are not in a position to vouch for petitioner’s
irreproachable conduct for the entire period required by law (Ng vs. Republic,
L-21179, January 22, 1966; King vs. Republic, L-19082, September 29, 1966),
especially while he was staying in Manila
and for a time in San Juan, Rizal.

The notice of the petition for naturalization was published in
“La Prensa“, a newspaper of general
circulation in the province of Cebu.  There is no showing that the said newspaper
was also of general circulation in Manila
and San Juan, Rizal,
where petitioner, as heretofore stated, spent the greater part of his
youth.  The purpose of the law in
requiring publication of the notice of the petition is to apprise the public in
general that petitioner has applied for citizenship, so that persons who know
him or otherwise may have derogatory information about him may bring the same
to the attention of the corresponding authorities.  For the acquisition of citizenship by
naturalization is of public interest, involving as it does the conferment of
political and economic rights and privileges.

Wherefore, the decision appealed from is set aside and the
petition is dismissed, without prejudice to the filing of another application
by petitioner.  No pronouncement as to
costs.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez, Castro, Angeles, and Fernando, JJ., concur.