William Lee Chiongbian and his citizenship
William Chiongbian founder of William Lines (established on December 13, 1945) fought for his citizenship and ownership of his vessels. The Bureau of Customs ordered the cancellation of the registration of his vessels.
The ground for the cancellation was that William Chiongbian was not a Filipino citizen and therefore not qualified to operate and own vessels of Philippine registry. The Philippine Shipping Administration also supported the legal action of the Bureau of Customs and alleged that Chiongbian misrepresented the execution of the sale of three vessels, stating that his father was a naturalized Filipino citizen.
The father of William was Victoriano Chiongbian of Jimenez, Misamis Occidental. His father Victoriano was elected councilor of Plaridel, Misamis Occidental in 1925. A town in Misamis Occidental created February 8, 1982 named as Don Mariano Marcos was renamed in 1986 as Don Victoriano Chiongbian. Don Victoriano was the town's first mayor. Don Victoriano was the son of Joaquin Chiong and Magna Taghap. The mother of William was Lee Chay Hong and later adopted a Filipino Christianized name, Dona Rosario Lee who lived in Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental.
The Supreme Court on January 31, 1949 declared that William was a Filipino citizen, after the latter filed a petition to permanently prohibit the Bureau of Customs from cancelling his registration certificates of his vessels. Chiongbian filed the case against Alfredo de Leon, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, Jose Gallofin, the Collector of Customs of the Port of Cebu and Vicente dela Cruz, general manager of the Philippine Shipping Administration.
The Supreme Court explained that the election of William's father into office had the legal effect of making him a Filipino citizen, and William being a minor also became a Filipino citizen like his father.
William Chiongbian, who married Virginia "Inday" Sy of the Sycip Clan on January 29, 1939 was represented by the famous lawyers at that time namely: Tanada, Pelaez & Teehankee, Pandatun, Arches & Sayo, and De Santos, Herrera & Delfino. The Supreme Court in resolving the very controversial case sought the assistance of Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco, Miguel Cuenco and Nicolas Belmonte as Amici Curiae (Friends of the Court) who were legal experts on Constitutional Law. The decision (En Banc) was written by Chief Justice Moran.
William faced the legal storm courageously as four years after with only one ship named after his beloved father, the number of ships rose to 15 with him voted as "Shipping Man of the Year" by the Business Writers Association of the Philippines.
William who was born in Misamis Occidental chose Cebu to be the center of his business. His first ship was a Japanese war wreck but found it useless, and then bought US Navy F-Boats. He named his ship after his father, M/V Victoriano. Its maiden voyage was from Cebu to Tagbilaran, Bohol and Siquijor, then to Plaridel and Ozamiz, Misamic Occidental. In 1962, William gave his brothers, George and Peter ships to open their own shipping lines, giving birth to George & Peter Lines. William in 1966 turned over the leadership of his business to his son, Victor.
William was elected in 1953 to 1961 as Representative of the Lone District of Misamis Occidental. William became Assistant Majority Floor Leader. He also ran for the Senate under the Liberal Party on the election held on November 8, 1955. He placed 16th in the election dominated by the Nacionalista Party. His brother James was also representative of the then Lone District of South Cotabato from 1965 to 1972. William became governor of Misamis Occidental from 1988 to 1992, he was succeeded as governor by Benito P. Chiongbian.
William died on August 17, 2002 due to a heart attack at Eddies Log Cabin. He had six children: Elizabeth, Victor, Albert, Elena, Henry, and Edward.
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