4/20/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly candidate for such position can be merely a citizen of the Philippines, as required of local elective officers. The spirit of nationalism pervading the 1935 Constitution, the first charter framed and ratified by the Filipinos (even as the draft had to be approved by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States) guides and governs the interpretation of Philippine citizenship and the more narrow and bounded concept of being a naturalborn citizen. Under the 1935 Constitution,[9] the requirement of natural-born citizenship was applicable only to the President and Vice President.[10] A person who had been a citizen for only five (5) years could be elected to the National Assembly.[11] Only in 1940,[12] when the first Constitution was amended did natural-born citizenship become a requirement for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives.[13] A Filipino naturalized for at least five (5) years could still be appointed Justice of the Supreme Court or a Judge of a lower court.[14] The history of the Constitution shows that the meaning and application of the requirement of being natural-born have become more narrow and qualified over the years. Under the 1973 Constitution,[15] the President, members of the National Assembly, Prime Minister, Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of inferior courts, the chairmen and members of the Constitutional Commissions and the majority of members of the cabinet, must be natural-born citizens.[16] The 1987 Constitution added the Ombudsman and his deputies and the members of the Commission on Human Rights to those who must be natural-born citizens.[17] The questioned Decision of respondent HRET reverses the historical trend and clear intendment of the Constitution. It shows a more liberal, if not a cavalier approach to the meaning and import of natural-born citizen and citizenship in general. It bears stressing that we are tracing and enforcing a doctrine embodied in no less than the Constitution. Indeed, a deviation from the clear and constitutional definition of a "natural-born Filipino citizen" is a matter which can only be accomplished through a constitutional amendment. Clearly, respondent HRET gravely abused its discretion. Respondent Cruz has availed himself of the procedure whereby his citizenship has been restored. He can run for public office where natural-born citizenship is not mandated. But he cannot be elected to high offices which the Constitution has reserved only for natural-born Filipino citizens. WHEREFORE, I vote to GRANT the petition. [1] 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. [2] 23 Phil 315 (1912). https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/58613 23/25