Quezon City court rules congressional bet a Filipino

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City regional trial court (RTC), reversing an earlier decision by another court, has ruled that congressional candidate Vivienne Tan, a daughter of businessman Lucio Tan, is a Filipino citizen and her name should not be stricken from the voter’s list.

In an order dated Feb. 9, RTC Branch 95 Judge Henri Jean-Paul Inting set aside the ruling made by the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) Branch 14 last January.

“A new one (decision) is rendered dismissing the petition for exclusion of a voter (Tan) from the list for lack of merit,” Inting said.

Tan’s opponent, incumbent District 1 Rep. Vincent Crisologo, filed the petition before the MTC.“The RTC is a higher court. Its decision will prevail,” one of Tan’s lawyers, Trixie Angeles, said during a press conference. She said they appealed the MTC decision favoring Crisologo, who claimed that Tan was not a Filipino citizen and should be excluded from the voter’s list in Barangay Sto. Domingo. Tan, who became a United States citizen in 1993, took an oath of allegiance to the Philippines on Nov. 30, 2009, then filed her certificate of candidacy the next day. She took the oath to reacquire her citizenship under Republic Act 9225, the law on dual citizenship.

“Tan having re-acquired her Filipino citizenship under RA 9225, she is deemed not to have lost her Filipino citizenship and is, therefore, a valid registered voter. In short, whatever defects respondent-appellant Vivienne Tan had in her nationality when she registered as a voter should now be deemed cured by her re-acquisition of her Filipino citizenship under RA 9225,” Inting said.

 Tan said she considers the new court decision a “personal victory” that she said “affirmed that I am fully qualified to represent the people of District 1.”The court case is separate from a disqualification case also filed against Tan before the Commission on Elections, also questioning her citizenship.