THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared Bienvenido “Benny” Abante, Jr. as the duly reelected Congressman for the 6th district of Manila, after the Comelec Second Division voided the certificate of candidacy (COC) filed by his opponent, Luis “Joey” Chua Uy.
In a decision penned on Wednesday, the Comelec declared Chua as a non-candidate in the recently-concluded elections since his COC is void, paving the way for the Comelec to declare Abante as the winner for the said position.
The Comelec explained that Chua Uy is not a natural-born citizen but a ‘naturalized citizen, contrary to the information contained in the COC that he filed.
The Comelec added that when Chua Uy was born on March 15, 1962, his father was a Chinese citizen, who only got naturalized on August 28, 1967. His mother on the other hand, was a Filipino citizen before she got married in January 1944, to his father who was then a Chinese national.
According to the poll body, the 1935 Constitution and the civil law provisions at that time states that a woman automatically loses her Filipino citizenship and acquires the citizenship of her foreign husband.
Owing to this, the Comelec rules that Chua Uy’s parents were both not Filipino at the time of his birth.
“Accordingly, both parents were non-Filipinos when respondent was born, thereby precluding the latter from being considered a natural-born Filipino. Since natural-born citizenship requires that the individual be a citizen of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect such citizenship, respondent cannot validly claim natural-born status,” the Comelec stated.
“His Identification Certificate which recognized Respondent as a citizen of the Philippines solely by virtue of ‘being the legitimate son of Uy Ho, a Naturalized Filipino Citizen.’ This document confirms that Respondent’s citizenship was not acquired by birthright but derived from the naturalization of his father,” it added.
Aside from this, Chua Uy was also issued an identification certificate by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
“The BI will not get involved unless there is a need for the administration and enforcement of immigration, citizenship and alien admission and registration laws. Thus, respondent’s acquisition of citizenship was not without the performance of an act; it involved the processing and approval of an Identification Certificate which requires specific conditions and documentary requirements, and was dependent on the grant of citizenship to his father,” the Comelec said.
After considering Chua Uy as a “non-candidate” and voiding his COC, the Comelec said: “The votes cast in his favor are considered stray and should not have been counted.”
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Petition is GRANTED. The proclamation for Respondent LUIS ‘JOEY’ CHUA UY is hereby ANNULLED,” it added.
“Petitioner BIENVENIDO ‘BENNY’ MIRANDO ABANTE, JR., the only qualified candidate who garnered the highest number of votes is hereby declared as the duly elected Member of the House of Representatives of the Sixth District of the City of Manila. So ordered,” it further stated.
Meanwhile, Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said that once the Comelec en banc issues a decision, it will be executory five days after its promulgation.
