G.R. No. L-16924 – 117 Phil. 836 – 7 SCRA 832 – Political Law – Law on Public Officers – Citizenship Requirement for Public Officers and Employees – Public School Teachers Must Be Filipino Citizens
Antonia Yee is a civil service eligible serving as as a regular public school teacher having passed the required teacher’s examination. Antonia Yee has since been serving as a public school teacher in Buhang Elementary School, Buhang, Hamtic, Antique. In 1957, she married a Chinese citizen, Ng Foo. In the same year, Yee received notice that she is being terminated from her job by reason of her marriage, and subsequent loss of citizenship. Yee then filed a Petition for Mandamus to compel the Director of Public Schools to reinstate her.
ISSUE: Whether or not Yee should be reinstated.
HELD: No. She was validly removed from her position as a public school teacher because she lost her Filipino citizenship when she married Ng Foo. The law provides that persons qualified to serve in classified public service must be Filipino citizens. A public school is qualified under public service. Further, it is so provided that an applicant for the civil service examination must be a Filipino citizen; that requirement subsists even after such applicant had passed the exam.
