EN BANC
[G.R. No. L-20897. May 30, 1967.]
IN THE MATTER OF PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION OF TY ENG HUA. TY ENG HUA, Petitioner-Appellee, v. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Oppositor-Appellant.
Solicitor General Arturo A. Alafriz, Assistant Solicitor F. R. Rosete & Solicitor T. R. Dino for Oppositor-Appellant.
Perfecto P. T. Chua Cheng for Petitioner-Appellee.
SYLLABUS
1. NATURALIZATION; REQUIREMENT OF LUCRATIVE TRADE OR PROFESSION; ANNUAL NET INCOME OF P4,739.32 NOT SUFFICIENT WHERE PETITIONER HAS A WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN TO SUPPORT. — Income, for purposes of naturalization, is to be reckoned as of the time of the filing of the application. In the case at bar, the petition was filed on March 28, 1961, and in paragraph 3 thereof petitioner avers that from his trade as merchant, he "derives an income of P3,600.00, more or less." His 1960 income tax return, however, shows a net income of P4,739.32. Neither the one figure nor the other represents income lucrative for the petitioner, who has a wife and four minor children to support.
D E C I S I O N
SANCHEZ, J.:
Petitioner Ty Eng Hua, a subject of Nationalist China, seeks to be admitted as citizen of the Philippines, by naturalization. 1 The judgment below found that petitioner "has all the qualifications required" by the Revised Naturalization Law and "none of the disqualifications specified" therein, and declared him "eligible to be admitted a citizen" of this country.
The Republic appealed.
For the reason alone that applicant does not have a lucrative income, the petition should be denied. Income, for purposes of naturalization, is to be reckoned as of the time of the filing of the application. Here, that application for naturalization was filed on March 28, 1961. Paragraph 3 thereof avers that from his trade as merchant, "he derives an income of P3,600.00, more or less." His 1960 income tax return, however, shows a net income of P4,739.32. 2 Going by a long line of judicial pronouncements, neither the one figure nor the other represents income lucrative for one who — as is the case of petitioner — has a wife and four (4) minor children to support. Even on the assumption that, as petitioner testified, 3 he "can get around P6,000, more or less" for the year 1961, this income does not come up to the standard required in the Naturalization Law. 4
The judgment under review must be, as it is hereby, reversed, and petitioner’s petition for naturalization, denied.
Costs against petitioner. So ordered.
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar and Castro, JJ., concur.
The Republic appealed.
For the reason alone that applicant does not have a lucrative income, the petition should be denied. Income, for purposes of naturalization, is to be reckoned as of the time of the filing of the application. Here, that application for naturalization was filed on March 28, 1961. Paragraph 3 thereof avers that from his trade as merchant, "he derives an income of P3,600.00, more or less." His 1960 income tax return, however, shows a net income of P4,739.32. 2 Going by a long line of judicial pronouncements, neither the one figure nor the other represents income lucrative for one who — as is the case of petitioner — has a wife and four (4) minor children to support. Even on the assumption that, as petitioner testified, 3 he "can get around P6,000, more or less" for the year 1961, this income does not come up to the standard required in the Naturalization Law. 4
The judgment under review must be, as it is hereby, reversed, and petitioner’s petition for naturalization, denied.
Costs against petitioner. So ordered.
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar and Castro, JJ., concur.
Endnotes:
1. Naturalization Case No. 142 of the Court of First Instance of Camarines Sur, entitled "In the Matter of Petition for Naturalization of Ty Eng Hua to be Admitted a Citizen of the Philippines, Ty Eng Hua, Petitioner."cralaw virtua1aw library
2. Exhibit M.
3. T.S.N., December 14, 1961, p. 53.
4. Law Tai v. Republic, L-20623 April 27, 1967, and cases cited.
