On July  28,  1953, Chua Chian,  in behalf of  Ng Siu Hong, Marcelino Ng Siu Lim, and herself, filed a petition in the Court of First Instance of Manila for the reconstitution of the record of  a  naturalization  case entitled "In the Matter of the Petition for .Naturalization of Ng Yoc Siu, Case No.  681" alleged to have been decided in 1941.  The record,  so  it is  alleged, was destroyed during the war.   Acting on the  petition, the court declared the record of  the  case  reconstituted with the  admission of the following exhibits: 

"A A notice sent to Attorney  Mendoza by the  Clerk of  Court advising the  former that  a  copy  of the decision of the Court  in the  Citizenship Case  No. 681  was  furnished the Office of the Civil Registrar; 

"B A  letter sent by  the local  civil  Registrar requiring Ng Yoc Siu to pay the amount of F20  for the registration  of the copy of the decision;

"C Official  Receipt for P20  for  'registration for petition for. Philippine citizenship  Case No. 681';

"D A  copy of  a page of a  Docket  book  for  Naturalization Case No'  681."

In  a subsequent  petition filed  in  the same  case,  Chua Chian prayed  that she  be allowed  to take  the  oath of allegiance  for  the said Ng Yoc  Siu and that  thereafter the court order the issuance of the corresponding certificate of naturalization of said Ng Yoc Siu  for the benefit of his widow and children.   In support of this  prayer,  Chua Chian alleged that  in  the naturalization case above  mentioned a decision  was rendered  on November 28,  1941, granting Philippine citizenship to Ng  Yoc  Siu but that due to the outbreak of the  last war Ng Yoc Siu was not able  to  take  the required  oath  of  allegiance;  and that before a certificate  of naturalization  could  be issued to him,  he died on  December 28, 1944, leaving a widow, who is herself,  and  two minor children, the aforementioned Ng Siu  Hong  and  Marcelino  Ng  Siu  Lim.

The second petition was opposed by the Solicitor General on various grounds, and the court having denied it,  Chua Chian and her two alleged children filed the  present petition for  "certiorari and  mandamus,"  praying  that  this Court order the  judge below

"to immediately  issue an order allowing the  petitioner, as widow of the deceased Ng  Yoc  Siu,  to give  the oath of allegiance in his behalf in Case No. R-681, entitled 'In  the Matter of the Petition for Reconstitution  of the Case Entitled "In the  Matter of the Petition for Naturalization  of Ng Yoc Siu,  Case No.  681," Chua Chian, Petitioner', and after giving  said oath of allegiance, to order issuance of the  corresponding certificate of  naturalization of Ng Yoc Siu, for the benefit of the  widow and her children above-named."

Without need of going  into  all of the questions raised by the parties, we think that the petition must be denied.

The taking of an oath is a personal matter.   It is one of those things which by their very  nature cannot be done by one person for another.   As  the one required to take the oath in this case  is already dead, it would be absurd to allow any other person to take  it for him.   This  becomes more apparent when one examines the  form of oath provided  by  the Naturalization  Act.   In  that oath the candidate  for  naturalization solemnly declares that he renounces  his  allegiance and  fidelity  to  his former sovereign, accepts the supreme authority  of  the Government of  the Philippines  and  promises to  support  and defend its constitution and observe its laws.  How, we may ask, could a dead  person be bound to do the things stipulated in the above oath?

The petition asks that the court below allow  petitioner to do that  which, it  is obvious, cannot legally be done. The petition must be,  as it is hereby, denied.   With costs.

Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Jugo, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J. B. L.,  and Endencia, JJ., concur.