THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has overturned a Court of Appeals (CA) decision on the deportation of Filipino-American Walter Manuel F. Prescott, citing the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) error in detaining him since he is, in fact, a natural-born Filipino.
The SC en banc granted Mr. Prescott’s habeas corpus petition and affirmed he is a Filipino citizen not subject to deportation.
“He deserves to be set free since long ago. In fact, he should not have been deprived of his liberty and be treated as an overstaying alien in the first place. For he is, indeed, a natural born Filipino,” read a portion of the 36-page decision penned by Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier.
It ruled that the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice erred in having Mr. Prescott arrested and that the 2013 DoJ resolution upon which it was based violated his due process rights, because he was not allowed to defend himself against his ex-wife’s allegations that he had illegally reobtained his Philippine citizenship.
Mr. Prescott, son of a Filipino mother and an American father, was arrested in 2016 for overstaying and recommended for deportation — an order that could not be executed due to pending criminal cases.
Mr. Prescott became a naturalized American in 2006 after working for the World Bank since 1983. In 2013, ex-Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima revoked his citizenship, which Prescott discovered only when he was renewing his passport.
The SC noted that he belatedly elected his nationality in 2008 by reapplying for Filipino citizenship and pledging allegiance. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
