756 Phil. 309
DEL CASTILLO, J.:
First: My full name is HUANG TE FU, also known as ROBERT UY;
Second: My places of residence were: 1982 1 Santiago Street, Malinta, Valenzuela City 1982 to 1984 Biak na Bato, San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City 1984 to 1994 235 C 3rd Street, 10th Avenue, Caloocan City 1994 to present 64-A Parklane Street, Barangay Sangandaan, Project 8, Quezon City;
Third: My trade or profession is a Businessman engaged in the manufacture of zipper, in which I have been connected since 1992; and from which I derive an average monthly income of P15,000.00;
Fourth: I was born on the 15th day of August 1976 in Taiwan. I am at present a Citizen or subject of the Republic of China, under whose laws Filipinos may become naturalized citizens or subjects thereof [sic];
Fifth: I am married to a Filipino, IRENE D. CHAN, 28 years of age, having been born on 11 April 1977 at Manila, and with whom I have two (2) children, namely: ROCHELLE IVY C. HUANG, 3 years of age, who was born on 26 March 2002 at [sic] Quezon City; and REYNARD IVAN C. HUANG, 1 year of age, who was born on 25 February 2004 at [sic] Quezon City. My wife and two children are presently residing with me at 64-A Parklane Street, Barangay Sangandaan, Project 8, Quezon City;
Sixth: I arrived in the Philippines via China Airlines on the 13th of August 1982;
Seventh: I have filed my Declaration of Intent to Become a Citizen of the Philippines with the Office of the Solicitor General on 4 March 2004, pursuant to and in compliance with Section 5 of Commonwealth Act No. 473, as amended;[8]
Eighth: I have resided continuously, for the last twenty three (23) years, in the Philippines since my arrival. I have received my primary education at Philippine Cultural High School; secondary education at Philippine Cultural High School; and finished my college education at Ateneo de Manila University with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, respectively, which are schools recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality;
Ninth: I am able to speak and write English and Filipino;
Tenth: I believe in the principle underlying the Philippine Constitution. I am of good moral character and have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines, in my relations with the constituted Government as well as with the community in which I am living. I have mingled socially with the Filipinos, and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions, and ideals of the Filipinos. I have all the qualifications required under Section 2, a special qualification under Section 3, by being married to a Filipino woman, and none of the disqualifications under Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 473;
I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the success and predominance of men’s ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from any mental alienation or incurable diseases. The nation of which I am a citizen or subject of is not at war with the Philippines. The country of which I am a citizen or subject of grants Filipinos the right to become naturalized citizens or subjects thereof;
Eleventh: It is my intention in good faith to become a citizen or subject of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to my foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to the Republic of China of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of my petition up to the time of my admission to the Philippine Citizenship;
Twelfth: I have not heretofore made any petition for citizenship to any Court;
Thirteenth: Mr. BENJAMIN A. MORALEDA, JR., of legal age, married, residing at 82-A Maginoo Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City, and Ms. BELLA RAMONA A. ANTONANO, of legal age, single, residing at 1 Ligaya Street, Mandaluyong City, who are both Filipinos, will appear and testify as my witnesses at the hearing of my herein petition.
Attached hereto and made an integral part of this petition are: (a) the Original Certification of Arrival from the Bureau of Immigration (Annex “A”); (b) Declaration of Intent to Become a Citizen of the Philippines (Annex “B”); (c) Affidavit of the two witnesses (Annexes “C” and “D”); and (d) my two recent photographs (Annexes “E” and “E-1”).
WHEREFORE, petitioner prays that he be admitted a citizen of the Philippines.[9]
Petitioner[11] thereafter testified that he was born on August 15, 1976 in Taiwan; that his father, Huang Ping-Hsung, and mother, Huang Wen, Chiu-Yueh are both Chinese nationals; that he is the holder of Alien Certificate of Registration No. E062035 and Immigrant Certificate of Residence No. 259804; that he resided at Lin 4, Chienkuo Li, Panchiao City, Taipei County, Taiwan Province since his birth until he came to Manila, Philippines on August 13, 1982; that he first stayed at Santiago Street, Valenzuela City; that they transferred to Biak-na-Bato Street, San Francisco Del Monte and they later transferred to 23-C, 3rd Street, 10th Avenue, Caloocan City; that petitioner presently resides at No. 64-A Parklane Street, Barangay Sangandaan, Project 8, Quezon City; that he attended Philippine Cultural High School for his elementary and secondary education; that he attended Ateneo de Manila University where he took up Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
When petitioner graduated from College in the year 2000, he worked as General Manager of MIT Zipper, a company owned by the family of the petitioner; that as a businessman he conscientiously files Income Tax Returns; that he is presently married to Irene Chan, a Filipino citizen on October 01, 2000; that he has two children namely, Rochelle Ivy C. Huang, 3 years old, and Reynard Ivan C. Huang, 1 year old and that he and his family are presently residing at 64-A Parklane Street, Barangay Sangandaan, Project 8, Quezon City.
Petitioner further alleged that he believes in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. He had conducted himself in a proper, irreproachable manner during his entire period of residence in the Philippines in his relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which he is living. These allegations are evinced by the clearances petitioner was able to secure from the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Clerk of Court – Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, and the Office of the City Prosecutor. He has mingled socially with the Filipinos, and have [sic] evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions, and ideals of the Filipinos.
Petitioner further alleged that he is not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. He has not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. He is not suffering from any mental alienation or any incurable or contagious disease. The nation of which he is presently a citizen or subject of, is not at war with the Philippines. He is not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. He has all the qualifications required and none of the disqualifications under Commonwealth Act No. 473, as amended.
Moreover, petitioner’s intention to become a citizen of the Philippines is being done in good faith, and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign state, prince, potentate or sovereignty and particularly to the Chinese Government of which at this time he is a citizen and subject, and that petitioner shall reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of filing of this petition up to the time of [his] admission to the Philippine Citizenship.
Based on the foregoing, the Court believes that the petitioner was able to establish by sufficient evidence, both testimonial and documentary, that he has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications provided for under the law which will warrant the granting of the relief being prayed for.
ACCORDINGLY, therefore, the petition for admission as citizen of the Philippines is hereby GRANTED.
This decision shall become executory after two (2) years from its promulgation and after the Court, after hearing, with the attendance of the Solicitor General or his representative, is satisfied, and so finds that during the intervening time the applicant has (1) not left the Philippines, (2) dedicated himself continuously to a lawful calling or profession, (3) not been convicted of any offense or violation of government[-]promulgated rules, or (4) committed any act of [sic] prejudicial to the interest of the nation or contrary to any government renounced [sic] policies.
SO ORDERED.[12]
First off, an examination of the evidence presented during the proceedings below shows that the petitioner-appellee[16] has been engaged in some lucrative trade or lawful occupation. He works as general manager in their family-owned business, Crown Shipper Manufacturer and Trading Corporation, a zipper manufacturing company employing workers mostly coming from the province.
Prior to his appointment as general manager, petitioner-appellee has also been working in the family’s business before his parents turned over the management of its affairs. This is evidenced by the increase in the declared gross income of the petitioner-appellee in his Income Tax Returns filed for the years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. The extent of the operations of the petitioner-appellee’s family business and his involvement in the management thereof are corroborated by the testimonies of Atty. Benjamin Moraleda and Atty. Bella Ramona Antonano, both friends of the Huang family and the petitioner-appellee since 1987 and 1994, respectively. Both witnesses also testified that the petitioner-appellee possessed all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to become a naturalized citizen of the Philippines.
Secondly, the Solicitor General also averred that the petitioner-appellee failed to conduct himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during his entire stay or residence in the Philippines. It noted that the petitioner-appellee stated in his petition that he earns an average of P15,000.00 per month but his declared gross income for 2002 and 2003 indicated that he earned P120,000.00 annually while in 2004, his annual gross income was P210,000.00. The Solicitor General contended that because of the petitioner-appellee’s failure to divulge his true income, his moral character has been tainted.
We hold otherwise.
Absent a clear and unmistakable showing that the petitioner-appellee knowingly and deliberately filed a fraudulent return with intent to evade tax or that he has concealed the truth in his income tax returns, the presumption that the latter has regularly filed his return prevails. The petitioner-appellee has, in fact, explained before the trial court that his salary is not exactly fixed; sometimes he earns more or sometimes less than his estimated or average monthly earnings which could well be between P15,000.00 to P18,000.00. He even testified that he is not included in the payroll since his parents own the company and his salaries are handed to him by his parents.
In the case of Republic of the Philippines v. Court of Appeals and Loh Khuan Fatt, the Supreme Court did not agree with the argument of the Solicitor General that there had been a willful failure on the part of the applicant to disclose the petitioner’s true income, thereby tainting his moral character. The discrepancy between the petitioner’s estimate of his income in his application and that declared by him during his direct testimony should not be taken against him as an indication of intent to evade payment of taxes. x x xx x x x x x x x x
Lastly, the Solicitor General argued that petitioner-appellee is disqualified from becoming a citizen of the Philippines because he could not even cite any of the principles underlying the Constitution during cross-examination x x x.x x x x x x x x x
We agree with the observation of the petitioner-appellee that the oppositor’s representative during the cross-examination was actually asking the petitioner-appellee to recite what these underlying principles of the Constitution are in a manner which a law professor would normally ask his Political Law students. Not being able to enumerate the principles in verbatim does not necessarily mean that one does not believe in the Constitution. What is important is that the petitioner-appellee declared under oath that he believes in the principles underlying the Constitution, and that he had no derogatory or criminal record which would be a clear violation of the law of the land. Apparently, during cross-examination the oppositor-appellant did not confront the petitioner-appellee of the principles which it thought the latter does not believe in.
WHEREFORE, the appeal is DENIED and the Decision dated September 24, 2007 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 96 in Naturalization Case No. Q-05-55251 is AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.[17]
WHETHER X X X RESPONDENT X X X HAS DULY COMPLIED WITH THE RIGID REQUISITES PRESCRIBED BY COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 473, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE REVISED NATURALIZATION LAW, AS TO ENTITLE HIM TO BE ADMITTED AS A CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES.[18]
Based on jurisprudence, the qualification of “some known lucrative trade, profession, or lawful occupation” means “not only that the person having the employment gets enough for his ordinary necessities in life. It must be shown that the employment gives one an income such that there is an appreciable margin of his income over his expenses as to be able to provide for an adequate support in the event of unemployment, sickness, or disability to work and thus avoid one’s becoming the object of charity or a public charge.” His income should permit “him and the members of his family to live with reasonable comfort, in accordance with the prevailing standard of living, and consistently with the demands of human dignity, at this stage of our civilization.”
Moreover, it has been held that in determining the existence of a lucrative income, the courts should consider only the applicant’s income; his or her spouse’s income should not be included in the assessment. The spouse’s additional income is immaterial “for under the law the petitioner should be the one to possess ‘some known lucrative trade, profession or lawful occupation’ to qualify him to become a Filipino citizen.” Lastly, the Court has consistently held that the applicant’s qualifications must be determined as of the time of the filing of his petition.[23] (Emphasis supplied)