4/29/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly office but during the officer's entire tenure. Once any of the required qualifications is lost, his title may be seasonably challenged. x x x.[41] The citizenship requirement for elective public office is a continuing one. It must be possessed not just at the time of the renunciation of the foreign citizenship but continuously. Any act which violates the oath of renunciation opens the citizenship issue to attack. We agree with the pronouncement of the COMELEC First Division that “Arnado’s act of consistently using his US passport effectively negated his “Affidavit of Renunciation.”[42] This does not mean, that he failed to comply with the twin requirements under R.A. No. 9225, for he in fact did. It was after complying with the requirements that he performed positive acts which effectively disqualified him from running for an elective public office pursuant to Section 40(d) of the Local Government Code of 1991. The purpose of the Local Government Code in disqualifying dual citizens from running for any elective public office would be thwarted if we were to allow a person who has earlier renounced his foreign citizenship, but who subsequently represents himself as a foreign citizen, to hold any public office. Arnado justifies the continued use of his US passport with the explanation that he was not notified of the issuance of his Philippine passport on 18 June 2009, as a result of which he was only able to obtain his Philippine passport three (3) months later.[43] The COMELEC En Banc differentiated Arnado from Willy Yu, the Portuguese national who sought naturalization as a Filipino citizen and later applied for the renewal of his Portuguese passport. That Arnado did not apply for a US passport after his renunciation does not make his use of a US passport less of an act that violated the Oath of Renunciation he took. It was still a positive act of representation as a US citizen before the immigration officials of this country. The COMELEC, in ruling favorably for Arnado, stated “Yet, as soon as he was in possession of his Philippine passport, the respondent already used the same in his subsequent travels abroad.”[44] We cannot agree with the COMELEC. Three months from June is September. If indeed, Arnado used his Philippine passport as soon as he was in possession of it, he would not have used his US passport on 24 November 2009. Besides, Arnado’s subsequent use of his Philippine passport does not correct the fact that after he renounced his foreign citizenship and prior to filing his certificate of candidacy, he used his US passport. In the same way that the use of his foreign passport does not undo his Oath of Renunciation, his subsequent use of his Philippine passport does not undo his earlier use of his US passport. Citizenship is not a matter of convenience. It is a badge of identity that comes with attendant civil and political rights accorded by the state to its citizens. It likewise demands the concomitant duty to maintain allegiance to one’s flag and country. While elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55820 13/49