Former Catanduanes Vice Governor Peter “Boss Te” Cua is set to file a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to nullify a resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) barring him from running for public office due to unresolved issues concerning his citizenship.
Reversing the COMELEC First Division’s earlier ruling that dismissed incumbent Governor Patrick Alain Azanza’s petition as “utterly bereft of merit,” five members of the En Banc—Commissioners Aimee V. Ferolino, Rey E. Bulay, Nelson J. Celis, Maria Norina S. Tangaro-Casingal, and Noli R. Pipo—voted to grant the petition.
COMELEC Chairman George Garcia annotated his signature with the words “no part,” signifying that he did not participate in the deliberation and decision.
In contrast, Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand P. Maceda Jr. dissented, implying in his annotation that the Commission might be overreaching while the ruling itself lacked a solid legal basis.
“’Broad constitutional authority’ and charge of ‘mere technicality,’ these words are a refuge when rephrased by legal basis,” he said.
The Comelec First Division earlier ruled that Azanza’s petition should be dismissed outright for being the wrong remedy.
It explained that the grounds he raised were more appropriate for a petition for denial of due course to or cancellation of a certificate of candidacy.
The Division also ruled that claims questioning Cua’s citizenship were misplaced, stressing that false declaration of citizenship is a ground for cancellation of a Certificate of Candidacy, not for disqualification.
It added that attacking the citizenship of Cua’s parents or questioning the validity of his father’s naturalization constituted an impermissible collateral attack, which is beyond the scope of a disqualification case.
Maceda also stressed that reliance on China’s legislative history cannot substitute the division’s “strong precedent and sound arguments,” and thus voted to deny the petition.
“Additionally, while the deep dive into the legislative history of China to locate reason may prove valuable for Sino scholarship, the same cannot supplant our own foundation of strong precedent and sound arguments on which the division ruling stands. I respectfully dissent,” the seasoned election lawyer explained.
However, in its 17-page decision, which revisited the historical context of Chinese citizenship and its recognition in the Philippines, the En Banc concluded that Cua remains a Chinese citizen under Chinese nationality laws dating back to early 1900s, making him a dual citizen, and therefore disqualified from running for any public office under Section 40 of Local Government Code.
This is not the first time the Cua family has faced such a challenge.
It can be recalled that, a similar petition had been filed before the Commission on Comelec against Peter’s brother, then-reelectionist Governor Joseph Cua 13 years ago.
His gubernatorial rival, Larry S. Que, alleged that Cua falsely declared in his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) that he was a naturalized Filipino citizen, citing his birth certificate that indicated he was a Chinese national.
In April 2013, the Comelec First Division denied the petition for lack of merit, ruling that Cua had “abundantly shown” through documentary evidence that he was indeed a naturalized Filipino citizen qualified to run for governor.
The Division noted that the certification from the Bureau of Immigration, coupled with his Philippine passport and other official documents, carried the presumption of regularity, dismissing the allegations of undue influence as speculative.
The following year, in August 2014, the Comelec en banc affirmed with finality that there was sufficient evidence on record to establish that Cua is a Filipino citizen.