Co vs.

House of Representatives
G.R. Nos. 92191-92, July 30, 1991
Gutierrez, J.
FACTS: The petitioners filed election protests on the grounds that Jose
Ong, Jr. is not a natural born citizen of the Philippines and not a resident
of the second district of Northern Samar.

ISSUE: Whether or not respondent is a Filipino citizen.

HELD: YES. Jose Ong Chuan met a natural born-Filipino, Agripina Lao.
The two got married in 1932. The couple bore eight children, one of whom
is the private respondent who was born in 1948. Under the 1973
Constitution, those born of Filipino fathers and those born of Filipino
mothers with an alien father were placed on equal footing. They were both
considered as natural born citizens. Besides, private respondent did more
than merely exercise his right of suffrage. He has established his life here
in the Philippines.