GR No.

120295, June 28 1996, 257 SCRA 727

FACTS:

Juan G. Frivaldo ran for Governor of Sorsogon again and won. Raul R. Lee questioned his citizenship. He
then petitioned for repatriation under Presidential Decree No. 725 and was able to take his oath of
allegiance as a Philippine citizen.

However, on the day that he got his citizenship, the Court had already ruled based on his previous
attempts to run as governor and acquire citizenship, and had proclaimed Lee, who got the second
highest number of votes, as the newly elect Governor of Sorsogon.

ISSUE:

Whether or not Frivaldo’s repatriation was valid.

HELD:

The Court ruled his repatriation was valid and legal and because of the curative nature of Presidential
Decree No. 725, his repatriation retroacted to the date of the filing of his application to run for
governor. The steps to reacquire Philippine Citizenship by repatriation under Presidential Decree No.
725 are:

(1) filing the application;

(2) action by the committee; and

(3) taking of the oath of allegiance if the application is approved.

It is only upon taking the oath of allegiance that the applicant is deemed ipso jure to have reacquired
Philippine citizenship. If the decree had intended the oath taking to retroact to the date of the filing of
the application, then it should not have explicitly provided otherwise. He is therefore qualified to be
proclaimed governor of Sorsogon.