Appeals court halts Taulava deportation

The Court of Appeals has prohibited the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration from effecting Asi Taulava’s deportation through summary proceedings, virtually upholding the Talk n Text’s cager’s Filipino citizenship.

In a ruling, the three members of the CA seventh special division dismissed the appeal of the DOJ from a decision of the Regional Trial Court of Manila permanently enjoining the government from deporting Taulava. The decision was penned by CA Associate Justice Vicente Roxas and concurred in by Associate Justices Porita Aliño-Hormachuelos and Rosmari Carandang.

In their decision, the justices declared that "Taulava’s natural-born citizenship was already recognized by the BID’s (Bureau of Immigration and Deportation’s) Board of Commissioners, which enjoys the presumption of regularity in the performance of their duties." This affirms the earlier decision of the Manila RTC Branch 34.

Hence, the appellate court said, "anyone who questions his citizenship has the burden of proving his allegations. This can only be done by filing an appropriate action in a court of competent jurisdiction because, in our jurisdiction, an attack on a person’s citizenship may only be done through direct action for its nullity."

Taulava’s counsel, Eduardo Francisco, hailed the CA decision as a vindication of the rights of Taulava who was suspended by the Philippine Basketball Association from playing in the ongoing PBA Gran Matador Cup.

"With this decision and the official documents submitted by Taulava to the National Bureau of Investigation and the DOJ, this will constitute a reversal of the DOJ resolution which was the basis for the suspension of Taulava by the PBA," he said.

The DOJ had created a committee to reinvestigate Taulava’s citizenship with a view to causing his deportation if the committee finds that he is not a citizen. The DOJ created the committee after the Senate Committee on Games, Amusements and Sports, then headed by Sen. Robert Barbers, ordered the BID to "undertake immediately summary deportation proceedings" against Taulava for allegedly failing to prove his citizenship during a committee hearing in aid of legislation.