IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF QUE TEE TIAO TO BE ADMITTED A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, QUE TEE TIAO, PETITIONER-APPELLEE, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, OPPOSITOR-APPELLANT.

This is an appeal by the Republic of the Philippines
from the decision of the Court of First Instance of Palawan,
in its civil case 55, granting the petition for naturalization of Que Tee Tiao.

The statement of facts
made by the Solicitor General, which the petitioner Que
accepts as “substantially correct,” is
hereunder reproduced in full:

“The evidence presented in this case shows that petitioner was
born on August 11, 1915 in Sua-Tao, Ankoy, China; that he is a citizen of the Republic of
China; that his wife is Concepcion Lim, with whom he
has 8 children, namely, Cesar, Delia, Merlinda,
Alonso, Elvira, Corazon, Jesus and Yolanda, all surnamed Tan; that he was
baptized in the Roman Catholic Church under the name Enrique Loza Tan; that he has resided in the Philippines con­tinuously
since 1931.

“The evidence further
shows that petitioner is a merchant, and from his occupation he derived a
net income of P6,353.95 in 1959; P5,228.06 in 1960; and P4,333.35 in 1961, the
year when he filed the instant
petition.  The above figures represent
the joint income of petitioner and his wife during the periods
aforestated.

“Tirso
Ponce de Leon, a witness for petitioner, stated in his affidavit attached to
the petition that he knows personally petitioner Que
Tee Tiao @ Enrique Tan.  The other witness, Ramon Austria, likewise
stated in his affidavit attached to the petition that he knows personally
petitioner Que Tee Tiao
Enrique Tan.  These witnesses, in their
respective affidavits, alleged that petitioner has all the qualifications
necessary to become a citizen of the Philippines and is not in any way disqualified under the
provisions of the Naturalization Laws of the Philippines.”

The Republic asks this Court to reverse the judgment a quo
on the grounds that the petitioner (1) “does not have a lucrative
income,” and (2) “is disqualified for admission for Philippine citizenship because he uses an alias name
without proper authority.”

“We uphold
the Republic of the Philippines.

1. The income tax returns of the petitioner show a net income of
only P5,228.06 for 1960 and P4,333.35 for 1961, the
year when he filed the present petition for naturalization.  Considering that he has a wife and 8 children
to support, 7 of whom are schooling, the mentioned net incomes are clearly not
lucrative and therefore disqualify him for Philippine citizenship.

2. The petitioner used the name Enrique Loza
Tan when he was baptized on July 11,
1963, as well as when he contracted marriage.  In the certificates of baptism of his
children he registered his name as Enrique Tan. 
In the certificate of clearance issued to him by the Anti-Dummy Board,
the petitioner represented himself as Que Tee Tiao alias Enrique Tan.  His own character witness Tirso Ponce de
Leon, averred in his affidavit of February 3, 1961, “that I have known and
have been acquainted with the said Mr. Que Tee Tiao alias Enrique Tan.” His failure to state in his
petition that he was also known as Enrique Tan is, in virtue of this Court’s
consistent ruling, a sufficient ground of itself for denial of his petition for
naturalization.

ACCORDINGLY, the judgment appealed from is reversed, and
the present petition for naturalization is hereby dismissed, at petitioner’s
cost.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Zaldivar, Fernando, Teehankee, and Villamor, JJ., concur.

Barredo, J., did not take part.