BASILIO SANTOS CO, APPLICANT AND APPELLANT, VS. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, OPPONENT AND APPELLEE.

This is an application for Philippine citizenship under the provisions of Act
No. 2927 of the Philippine Legislature.

The applicant alleges and has tried to prove that he is a Filipino, born of a
Filipino mother in the municipality of Malolos, Province of Bulacan in June
1890, who did not become a Chinese citizen during his visits in China. In 1894
or 1895, when he was 4 years old he went to China with his parents. In 1916 he
returned to the Philippines and in the same year went back to China to be
treated for an illness. In 1917, he again returned to Manila, where he remained
until 1922, when he once more took his vacation in China. In 1923, he returned
to Manila and has since remained here.

The evidence adduced by the
applicant consisted of Exhibits A and H, which contain a copy of a baptismal
certificate wherein it appears that on June 4, 1890, in the parish of Malolos,
municipality of Malolos, Province of Bulacan, a child named Basilio, born on the
10th of that month, of Venancia Santos and an unknown father, was baptized in
accordance with the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church.
The applicant testified that the baptismal certificate referred to him; that
while he was yet of a tender age, his mother, Venancia Santos, told him that he
was her son and that he was born in the municipality of Malolos, Province of
Bulacan.

Weighing the evidence offered by the applicant, the court below found it not
satisfactorily proven that the applicant was born in this country and that he is
of Philippine origin and, consequently, denied it, with costs.

It appears, according to the applicant’s contention, that he is a Filipino
and that although he has gone to China several times, he never became a citizen
of that country. According to his evidence, he is, in fact, a Philippine
citizen, having been born in the Philippines during the time of the Spanish
sovereignty, his mother being a Filipino woman and his father unknown, or a
Chinaman not lawfully married to his mother (U. S. vs. Ong Tianse, 29 Phil.,
332). This being so, the naturalization proceedings established by Act No. 2927,
referring to those who are not Philippine citizens, do not apply to him and
there is no need to institute this action.

For this reason, the judgment
appealed from is affirmed, with costs. So ordered.

Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Villamor, Ostrand, Romualdez, and Villa-Real, JJ.,
concur.