Case Digest: Mariz Lindsey Tan Gana-Carait y Villegas v. Commission on Elections, Rommel Mitra Lim, and Dominic P. Nuñez G.R. No. 257453, August 9, 2022 Supreme Court, En Banc Ponente: Justice Ricardo R. Rosario

 

FACTS

Mariz Lindsey Tan Gana-Carait y Villegas filed her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the Lone District of Biñan, Laguna, in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections. Thereafter, Rommel Mitra Lim filed a petition for disqualification, while Dominic P. Nuñez filed a petition to deny due course to or cancel her COC. Both alleged that Gana-Carait was a dual citizen who had acquired United States citizenship by birth and had used a U.S. passport without executing a personal and sworn renunciation of her foreign citizenship before seeking elective office.

Gana-Carait argued that she did not commit any material misrepresentation in her COC. She maintained that she was a natural-born Filipino who merely possessed dual citizenship by operation of law, having been born in the United States to Filipino parents. She asserted that Republic Act No. 9225 (Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003) did not apply to her because she never lost her Philippine citizenship and therefore was not required to reacquire it or execute a sworn renunciation of her foreign citizenship under the said law.

The COMELEC First Division dismissed the petition for disqualification but granted the petition to cancel her COC under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code, holding that her declaration of eligibility constituted a false material representation. The COMELEC En Banc affirmed the ruling. Aggrieved, Gana-Carait filed a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition under Rule 64 in relation to Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, alleging that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in cancelling her COC.

ISSUE

Whether or not the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in cancelling Gana-Carait's Certificate of Candidacy under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code on the ground that she falsely represented that she was eligible to run for public office.

Whether or not a natural-born Filipino who acquired foreign citizenship by birth is required to comply with Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9225, including the execution of a sworn renunciation of foreign citizenship, before running for elective office.

Whether or not Gana-Carait's use of a United States passport rendered her ineligible for elective office and constituted a material misrepresentation warranting the cancellation of her Certificate of Candidacy.

HELD

The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition and ANNULLED the COMELEC Resolutions cancelling Gana-Carait's Certificate of Candidacy. The Court held that the COMELEC gravely abused its discretion in applying Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code. A petition under Section 78 requires proof of a false material representation regarding a qualification for public office. The Court found that Gana-Carait did not make any false representation because she remained a natural-born Filipino citizen despite possessing dual citizenship by birth.

The Court explained that Republic Act No. 9225 applies only to natural-born Filipinos who lost their Philippine citizenship through naturalization in a foreign country and later reacquired it. Since Gana-Carait acquired her U.S. citizenship by birth and never lost her Philippine citizenship, she was not covered by R.A. No. 9225. Consequently, she was not required to execute the sworn renunciation of foreign citizenship prescribed under Section 5 of R.A. No. 9225 before seeking elective office.

The Court further ruled that Gana-Carait's use of a U.S. passport did not constitute a false representation in her COC. At most, such act could raise an issue of disqualification under Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code, but it is not a ground for cancellation of a Certificate of Candidacy under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code. The Court emphasized that a petition for cancellation cannot be used to litigate grounds for disqualification that are distinct from false material representations in a COC.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside the COMELEC En Banc and First Division Resolutions, cancelled the COMELEC's Certificate of Finality, Entry of Judgment, and Writ of Execution, and dismissed the petition to deny due course to or cancel Gana-Carait's Certificate of Candidacy. The Court held that she remained qualified to run for public office because she continued to possess Philippine citizenship and did not commit any material misrepresentation in her COC