IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF CHING CHONG ANG TAN TO BE ADMITTED AS CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES. CHING CHONG ANG TAN, PETITIONER AND APPELLEE, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES,…

Appeal taken by the Republic of
the Philippines from the decision of the Court of First Instance of
Batangas admitting Ching Chong Ang Tan to Philippine citizenship.

On September 1, 1959, appellee filed a petition for
Naturalization alleging that he vas a citizen of Nationalist China,
born on July 16, 1921, in Chingkang, Fookien, China; that he arrived in
the Philippines on October 2, 1933 on board the vessel “ANGKING”; that
he had resided in the Philippines continuously for a period of 23 years
immediately preceding the date of the petition, to wit, since 1935 in
Kinuguitan, Oriental Misamis, for ten years, and from 1945 up to the
filing of the petition, in Tanauan, Batangas; that he was engaged in
the lumber business as Assistant Manager of the New Philippine Lumber
Company; that he was married to Dionisia M. Padilla, a Filipino
citizen, with whom he had two children, Rufina, 3 years of age, and
Crisanto, 9 months of age; that he derived an average annual income of
approximately P5,000.00 from his employment mentioned heretofore; and
that he possessed all the necessary qualifications required under
Section 2 and none of the disqualifications under Section 4 of
Commonwealth Act No. 473.

Attached to the petition were the
affidavits of character witnesses, Modesto Castillo and Pedro Gonzales,
wherein they alleged that they personally knew appellee since 1946;
that the latter had continuously resided in the Philippines since then,
and that, in their opinion, appellee had all the qualifications
necessary to become a citizen of the Philippines and none of the
disqualifications provided by law.

After the requisite
publication but before the date of the hearing of the petition
scheduled on June 22, 1960, character witness Castillo suddenly died.
Thereupon petitioner’s counsel filed a motion for leave to
substitute him and the affidavit of Mariano Castillo in lieu of that of
said deceased; which motion was granted by the court.

At the
hearing of the petition, appellant, represented by the Assistant
Provincial Fiscal of Batangas, filed a written opposition thereto,
claiming that the court did not acquire jurisdiction to hear the
petition because no new publication had been had after the death of
character witness Modesto Castillo and his substitution by another, as
required by Section 9 of the Revised Naturalization Law, as amended.

After trial, the court, on September 6, 1960, rendered the appealed judgment.

One
of the grounds relied upon by appellant in this instance is that
appellee’s annual income does not show that he was engaged in a
lucrative occupation. We find this to be meritorious. Appellee
testified upon this point that he derivedan Income of about P6,000.00
per annum, but it turned out that this income consisted of his fixed
salary in the lumber business amounting to a mere P150.00 per month, or
P1,800.00 per annum, and the rest was alleged profits earned as partner
of the New Philippine Lumber Company where he was employed. Such
profits, naturally, are purely of a contingent character. We have
repeatedly held that, upon this showing, an applicant for letters of
naturalization can not be considered as being engaged in a lucrative
occupation.

Premises considered, the decision appealed from is reversed. With costs.

Concepcion, C. J., Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, Zaldivar, and Sanchez, JJ., concur.