RAFAEL YAP ALIAS YAP HON ENG, PETITIONER AND APPELLEE, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, OPPOSITOR AND APPELLANT.

Rafael Yap versus Republic of the Philippines

The Case

This is a naturalization case. Rafael Yap, also known as Yap Hon Eng, a citizen of the Republic of China born and raised in Davao, asked the Court of First Instance of Davao to admit him as a citizen of the Philippines. The Republic of the Philippines opposed the application. The case matters because it fixes two mandatory requirements of the Revised Naturalization Law, Commonwealth Act Number 473: the filing of a declaration of intention one year before the petition, and the strict conditions for exemption from that requirement. The Supreme Court reminds every applicant that naturalization is a privilege granted only upon full compliance with the law.

Procedural History

On September 17, 1955, Rafael Yap filed his petition for naturalization in the Court of First Instance of Davao. The Republic, through the Solicitor General, opposed the application. After trial, the lower court rendered judgment granting the application. The Republic appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the judgment and dismissed the petition.

Facts

Rafael Yap was born in Mati, Davao, on July 15, 1927, and remained a citizen of the Republic of China. His father and grandfather were old residents of the country and had voted in elections before the Pacific War. He never left the Philippines. He finished the primary course and the fifth grade of the intermediate in the public schools of Mati, Davao. He married Margarita Sabido, a native of San Miguel, Iloilo, and they had two children, aged three years and one year at the time of the case.

He was a merchant with an average gross income of 25,000 pesos a year and net earnings of 200 to 250 pesos a month. He spoke and wrote English and Visayan, associated with Filipinos throughout his residence, had never been accused or convicted of any crime, believed in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution, did not advocate violence, was willing to embrace Filipino customs, traditions and ideals, was free of contagious disease, and owed no debts to the government.

On the requirement of a declaration of intention, his only evidence was a copy of a letter dated October 8, 1953, from his counsel to the Secretary of Justice, said to enclose his declaration of intention, and the stub of a five-peso postal money order for the fees. Nothing showed that the letter was ever received by the Secretary of Justice, and no effort was made to verify it. When he filed his petition on September 17, 1955, he was only 28 years old.

Issues

• Whether or not the petitioner complied with the mandatory requirement of filing a declaration of intention to become a citizen of the Philippines one year before filing his petition.
• Whether or not the petitioner is exempt from filing the declaration of intention under Section 6 of Commonwealth Act Number 473.

Applicable Provisions

Section 5 of the Revised Naturalization Law, Commonwealth Act Number 473, provides:

One year prior to the filing of his petition for admission to Philippine citizenship, the applicant for Philippine citizenship shall file with the Bureau of Justice a declaration under oath that it is bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the Philippines.

This fixes the declaration of intention as a condition that must be met one year before the petition is filed.

Section 6 of the same Act, as amended by Commonwealth Act Number 535, provides:

Persons born in the Philippines and have received their primary and secondary education in public schools or those recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality, and those who have resided continuously in the Philippines for a period of thirty years or more before filing their application, may be naturalized without having to make a declaration of intention upon complying with the other requirements of this Act.

This defines the only two grounds of exemption from the declaration of intention, and the petitioner must fall squarely within one of them.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the requirement of filing a declaration of intention is mandatory and an absolute prerequisite to naturalization, and that failure to file it, unless exempted under Section 6, is fatal to the application. The mere sending of the letter with its enclosures was insufficient to establish compliance, since there was no proof that the Secretary of Justice received it.

On the second issue, the Court held that the petitioner is not exempt. When he filed his application on September 17, 1955, he was only 28 years old, so he could not have had thirty years of continuous residence. While he was born in the country and finished the primary course and the fifth grade of the intermediate in public schools, this fell far short of the requirement of Section 6, which demands completion of both primary and secondary education in public schools or in private schools recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality. These requirements, too, are mandatory and an absolute prerequisite to naturalization.

Doctrine

First, the filing of a declaration of intention one year before the petition, under Section 5 of Commonwealth Act Number 473, is mandatory and an absolute prerequisite to naturalization. Failure to file it, unless the applicant is exempt under Section 6, is fatal to the application.

Second, the exemptions under Section 6 are strict. A native-born applicant must have completed both primary and secondary education in public schools or in private schools recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality. Alternatively, the applicant must have resided continuously in the Philippines for thirty years or more before filing the application. Partial schooling does not suffice.

Third, proof of filing must show actual receipt by the proper office. The mere sending of a letter with enclosures does not establish compliance.

Disposition

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the lower court, dismissed the petition for naturalization, and taxed the costs against the petitioner.

Remember This

The single line to memorize: the declaration of intention is mandatory and an absolute prerequisite to naturalization, and failure to file it, unless exempt under Section 6, is fatal to the application. Examiners use this case to test the strict requirements of the declaration of intention and the narrow exemptions under the Revised Naturalization Law.