David vs.

Agbay

FACTS

Petitioner made the untruthful statement in the MLA, a public document, that he is a
Filipino citizen at the time of the filing of said application, when in fact he was then still a
Canadian citizen. Under CA 63, the governing law at the time he was naturalized as Canadian
citizen, naturalization in a foreign country was among those ways by which a natural-born
citizen loses his Philippine citizenship. While he re-acquired Philippine citizenship under R.A.
9225 six months later, the falsification was already a consummated act, the said law having no
retroactive effect insofar as his dual citizenship status is concerned.

In 1974, petitioner Renato M. David migrated to Canada where he became a Canadian

citizen by naturalization. Upon their retirement, David and his wife returned to the Philippines
and purchased a lot where they constructed a residential house. However, they came to know
that the portion where they built their house is a public land and part of the salvage zone. In
April 2007, David filed a Miscellaneous Lease Application (MLA) over the subject land wherein
he indicated that he is a Filipino citizen. Private respondent Editha A. Agbay opposed the
application and she also filed a criminal complaint for falsification of public documents (Art. 172,
RPC). Meanwhile, David re-acquired his Filipino citizenship in October 2007. The Office of the
Provincial Prosecutor recommended the filing of the information in court. David filed a petition
for review before the Department of Justice (DOJ) but the same was denied. Meanwhile,
CENRO rejected David’s MLA, ruling that the latter’s subsequent re-acquisition of Philippine
citizenship did not cure the defect in his MLA.

Thereafter, an information for Falsification of Public Document was filed before the
Municipal Trial Court and a warrant of arrest was issued against the David. The latter then filed
an Urgent Motion for ReDetermination of Probable Cause, which was denied. David’s petition
for certiorari before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) was likewise denied.

ISSUE

WoN David be indicted for falsification for representing himself as a Filipino in his Public Land
Application despite his subsequent re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship under the provisions of
R.A. No. 9225?

HELD

YES. David is rightfully indicted for the falsely representing himself in his MLA. He made an
untruthful statement in his MLA that he was a Filipino citizen at the time he filed the document
but he was in fact at that time a Canadian Citizen. Even though he subsequently reacquired his
Filipino citizenship under R.A. No. 9225, that has no retroactive effect in as so far as his false
misrepresentation.