MOY YA LIM YAO

VS.
COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION
G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

Lau Yuen Yeung applied for a

passport visa to enter the Philippines as
a non-immigrant on 8 February 1961.
In the interrogation made in
connection with her application for a
temporary visitor's visa to enter the
Philippines, she stated that she was a
Chinese residing at Kowloon, Hongkong,
and that she desired to take a pleasure
trip to the Philippines to visit her great
grand uncle, Lau Ching Ping.
She was permitted to come
into the Philippines on 13 March 1961
for a period of one month.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

On the date of her arrival, Asher Y. Cheng filed a bond in the amount of
P1,000.00 to undertake, among others, that said Lau Yuen Yeung would actually
depart from the Philippines on or before the expiration of her authorized period of
stay in this country or within the period as in his discretion the Commissioner of
Immigration or his authorized representative might properly allow.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

After repeated extensions,

Lau Yuen Yeung was allowed to stay
in the Philippines up to 13 February
1962. On 25 January 1962, she
contracted marriage with Moy Ya
Lim Yao alias Edilberto Aguinaldo
Lim an alleged Filipino citizen.
Because of the contemplated action
of the Commissioner of Immigration
to confiscate her bond and order
her
arrest
and
immediate
deportation, after the expiration of
her authorized stay, she brought an
action for injunction.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

At the hearing which took

place one and a half years after her
arrival, it was admitted that Lau Yuen
Yeung could not write and speak
either English or Tagalog, except for a
few words. She could not name any
Filipino neighbor, with a Filipino name
except one, Rosa.
She did not know the names of her
brothers-in-law, or sisters-in-law. As a
result, the Court of First Instance of
Manila denied the prayer for
preliminary injunction. Moya Lim Yao
and Lau Yuen Yeung appealed.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

ISSUE:
Whether or not Lau Yuen Yeung
ipso facto became a Filipino citizen
upon her marriage to a Filipino
citizen.
HELD:
Under
Section
15
of Commonwealth Act 473, an alien
woman marrying a Filipino, native
born or naturalized, becomes
ipso facto a Filipina provided she is
not disqualified to be a citizen of the
Philippines under Section 4 of the
same law.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

Section 4. Who are disqualified. - The following

cannot be naturalized as Philippine citizens:
Persons opposed to organized government or
affiliated with any association or group of persons
who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all
organized governments;
Persons defending or teaching the necessity or
propriety of violence, personal assault, or
assassination for the success and predominance
of their ideas;
Polygamists or believers in the practice of
polygamy;
Persons convicted of crimes involving moral
turpitude;

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

Persons suffering from mental alienation or

incurable contagious diseases;
Persons who, during the period of their
residence in the Philippines, have not mingled
socially with the Filipinos, or who have not
evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace
the customs, traditions, and ideals of the
Filipinos;
Citizens or subjects of nations with whom
the United States and the Philippines are at
war, during the period of such war;
Citizens or subjects of a foreign country
other than the United States whose laws do
not grant Filipinos the right to become
naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

MOY YA LIM YAO VS. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

G.R. No. L-21289, October 4 1971, 41 SCRA 292

Likewise, an alien woman married to

an alien who is subsequently
naturalized here follows the Philippine
citizenship of her husband the
moment he takes his oath as Filipino
citizen, provided that she does not
suffer from any of the disqualifications
under said Section 4.
Lau Yuen Yeung, was declared to have
become a Filipino citizen from and by
virtue of her marriage to Moy Ya Lim
Yao also known as Edilberto
Aguinaldo Lim, a Filipino citizen of 25
January 1962.

END OF REPORT