Board of Commissioners (Commission on Immigration and Deportation), Board of Special Inquiry, Commissioner Andrea D. Domingo, Associate Commissioner Jorge V. Sarmiento, Acting Associate Commissioner Regino R. Santiago, Members of the Board of Special Inquiry, Estanislao Canta, Leo Magahom and Benjamin Kalaw, petitioners, versus Hon. Joselito dela Rosa, Presiding Judge, RTC Manila, Branch 29, William T. Gatchalian, respondents.
G. R. Nos. 95122.23 May 31, 1991
Facts:
On July 12, 1960, Santiago Gatchalian, grandfather of William Gatchalian, was recognized by the Bureau of Immigration as a native born Filipino citizen following the citizenship of his natural born mother, Marciana Gatchalian.
On June 27, 1961, William Gatchalian, then a twelve-year old minor, arrived in Manila from Hongkong together with Gloria, Francisco and Johnson Gatchalian. They had with them Certificate of Registration and Identity issued by the Philippine Consulate in Hongkong based on a cablegram bearing the signature of the then Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Felixberto Serrano, and sought admission as Filipino citizens. After investigation, the Board of Special Inquiry No. 1 rendered a decision dated July 5, 1961, admitting William Gatchalian and his companions as Filipino citizens and was issued Identification Certificates.
On January 24, 1962, the then Secretary of Justice issued Memorandum No. 9 setting aside all decisions purporting to have been rendered by the Board of Commissioners on appeal or on review motu proprio of decisions of the Board of Special Inquiry. The same memorandum directed the Board of Commissioners to review all cases where entry was allowed on the ground that the entrant was a Philippine citizen. Among those cases was that of William and others.On July 6, 1962, the new Board of Commissioners, reversed the decision of the Board of Special Inquiry and ordered the exclusion of, among others, respondent Gatchalian.
Sometime in 1973, respondent Gatchalian, as well as the others covered by the July 6, 1961 warrant of exclusion, filed a motion for re-hearing with the Board of Special Inquiry where the deportation case against them was assigned.
On March 15, 1973, Acting Commissioner Nituda issued an order reaffirming the July 6, 1961 decision of the Board of Special Inquiry thereby admitting respondent Gatchalian as a Filipino citizen and recalled the warrant of arrest issued against him.
On June 7, 1990, the acting director of the National Bureau of Investigation wrote the Secretary of Justice recommending that the respondent Gatchalian along with the other applicants covered by the warrant of exclusion be charged with violation against the Immigration Act of 1940.
On August 1, 1990, the Secretary of Justice indorsed the recommendation of the NBI to the Commissioner of Immigration for investigation and immediate action.
On August 15, 1990, petitioner Domingo of the Commission of Immigration and Deportation issued a mission order commanding the arrest of respondent William Gatchalian. The latter appeared before Commissioner Domingo on August 20, 1990 and was released on the same day upon posting P200,000.00 cash bond.
On August 29, 1990, William Gatchalian filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with injunction before the Regional Trial Court of Manila, presided by respondent Judge dela Rosa. On September 4, 1990, petitioners filed a motion to dismiss the case alleging that respondent judge has no jurisdiction over the Board of Commissioners and/or the Board of Special Inquiry.
On September 6, 1990, respondent’s wife and minor children filed before the Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela for injunction with writ of preliminary injunction. That petitioners acted without or in excess of jurisdiction in the institution of deportation proceedings against William. Respondent Capulong issued the questioned temporary restraining order restraining petitioners from continuing with the deportation proceedings against William Gatchalian.
Issue:
Whether or not William Gatchalian is a Filipino citizen.
Held:
The very basis of the Board of Commissioners in reversing the decision of the Board of Special Inquiry was due to a forged cablegram by the then Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which was dispatched to the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong authorizing the registration of applicants as P.I. citizens.
In matters of implementing the Immigration Act insofar as deportation of aliens are concerned, the Commissioner of Immigration may issue warrants of arrest only after a determination by the Board of Commissioners of the existence of the ground for deportation as charged against the alien. A warrant of arrest issued by the Commissioner of Immigration for the purpose of investigation only, as in the case at bar, is null and void for being unconstitutional.
Philippine law, following lex loci celebrationis, adheres to the rule that a marriage formally valid where celebrated is valid everywhere. Having declared the assailed marriages as valid, respondent William Gatchalian follows the citizenship of his father Francisco, a Filipino, as a legitimate child of the latter. Francisco, in turn, is likewise a Filipino being the legitimate child of Santiago Gatchalian who is admittedly a Filipino citizen whose Philippine citizenship was recognized by the Bureau of Immigration in an order dated July 12, 1960.
Finally, respondent William Gatchalian belongs to the class of Filipino citizens contemplated under Section 1, Article IV of the Consititution.
