Ong accepts he won't sit in Supreme Court

Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong said Tuesday that he respects the Supreme Court’s ruling barring him from taking the vacant 15th seat owing to questions over his citizenship. “I’m truly saddened by the decision of the High Court but I respect it," said Ong, who maintained that he is a natural-born Filipino citizen. “I am a Filipino. I lived and will live my life as a Filipino and I raised my children as law-abiding Filipinos," he said. Ong, 54, could have been President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 12th appointee to the high tribunal had there been no questions on his citizenship. He is the chairman of the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division, which topped the other four divisions in case disposal and conviction rates for four straight years since 2002. On Tuesday, the high court unanimously barred Ong from accepting an appointment to the SC’s vacant seat until he completed the correction of his birth certificate, which shows that he is a Chinese citizen. The SC en banc, in a 12-page decision penned by Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, practically dashed all hope for Ong to fill up the seat vacated by Associate Justice Romeo Callejo Sr., who retired last April 28 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Voting 13-0, the tribunal granted the twin petitions filed by the groups Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan Foundations, led by former Senate President Jovito Salonga and lawyer Emilio Capulong Jr., respectively, seeking to nullify Ong's appointment. "Respondent Ong has the burden of proving in court his alleged ancestral tree as well as his citizenship under the time-line of three Constitutions. Until this is done, respondent cannot accept an appointment to this Court as that would be a violation of the Constitution. For this reason, he can be prevented by injunction from doing so," the Court ruled. Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez was on leave and did not take part in the voting. The high court did not give merit to the recognition of Ong's natural-born status by the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice, saying these agencies cannot amend the final decision of the trial court that Ong and his mother, Rita "Dy Guiok" Santos were naturalized along with his father, Eugenio Ong Han Seng. The SC also said a change or correction in an entry in a civil registry as substantial as a citizenship status cannot be made without a judicial order, citing Republic Act 9048, or the naturalization law. "Substantial corrections to the nationality or citizenship of persons recorded in the civil registry should, therefore, be effected through a petition filed in court under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court," the SC said. Malacañang said it will accept the high court’s decision. "While we are disappointed, we will certainly respect the decision of the SC," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said. -GMANews.TV