G.R. No.

119976 September 18, 1995

IMELDA ROMUALDEZ-MARCOS, petitioner, vs.
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and CIRILO ROY MONTEJO, respondents.
KAPUNAN, J.:
DOCTRINE: Residence for election purposes is used synonymously with domicile.
FACTS: Imelda Marcos filed her CoC for the position of Representative of the First
District of Leyte. The incumbent Representative, Montejo, filed for her disqualification
alleging that she did not meet the 1 year constitutional requirement for residency.
Apparently, she wrote down in her CoC in item no.8, which asked for the number of
years of residency, that she had been a resident for 7 months. Marcos filed an amended
CoC changing 7 months to since childhood, claiming that it was an honest
misinterpretation that she thought she was being asked for her actual and physical
presence in Tolosa, and not her domicile. The COMELEC found the petition for her
disqualification meritorious and cancelled her amended CoC.
ISSUE: W/N the petitioner was a resident, for election purposes, of the First District of
Leyte for a period of one year.
RULING : Petitioner possesses the necessary residence qualifications to run for a seat
in the House of Representatives in the First District of Leyte. Respondent COMELEC is
hereby directed to order the Provincial Board of Canvassers to proclaim petitioner as
the duly elected Representative of the First District of Leyte . Under Article 50 of the Civil
Code states that "[f]or the exercise of civil rights and the fulfillment of civil obligations,
the domicile of natural persons is their place of habitual residence. There is a difference
between domicile and residence. "Residence" is used to indicate a place of abode,
whether permanent or temporary; "domicile" denotes a fixed permanent residence to
which, when absent, one has the intention of returning. A man may have a residence in
one place and a domicile in another. Residence is not domicile, but domicile is
residence coupled with the intention to remain for an unlimited time . Residence for
election purposes is used synonymously with domicile. Tacloban City is the domicile of
Mrs. Marcos for the following reasons: a minor follows the domicile of his/her parents
(since 8 years old until her college years), no abandonment of domicile was made and a
wifes domicile was not lost when she married her husband.