DVMATORRES, JD-1D

Case Digest No.: 17

Case Title: Mercado vs. Manzano
Citation: G.R. No. 135083

ISSUES:
Issue 1: Dual citizenship is different from dual allegiance. The former
arises when, as a result of the concurrent application of the different laws of two
or more states, a person is simultaneously considered a national by the said
states. Dual allegiance, on the other hand, refers to the situation in which a
person simultaneously owes, by some positive act, loyalty to two or more states.
While dual citizenship is involuntary, dual allegiance is the result of an
individual’s volition.
“WON dual citizenship is a disqualification of a candidate for an
elective position”
Held: NO, Dual citizenship is different from dual allegiance. The court
explained that dual citizenship as a disqualification must refer to citizens with
dual allegiance.
By filing a certificate of candidacy, the candidate elected Philippine
citizenship and in effect, sufficed to renounce his American citizenship, effectively
removing any disqualification he might have as a dual citizen. By declaring in his
certificate of candidacy that he is a Filipino Citizen; that he is not a permanent
resident or immigrant of another country; that he will defend and support the
constitution of the Philippines and bear truth faith and allegiance thereto and that
he does so without mental reservation, respondent, as far, as the law of this
country are concerned, effectively repudiated his American citizenship.
Respondent’s oath of allegiance to the Philippines, when considered with the fact
that he has spent his youth and adulthood, received his education, practiced his
profession as an artist, and taken part in past elections in this country, leaves no
doubt of his election of Philippine citizenship.