GRACE POE vs.

COMELEC

The Case
Grace Poe was found abandoned as a newborn infant in the Parish
Church of Jaro, Iloilo by Edgardo Militar in 1968. Parental care and
custody over her was passed on by Edgardo to his relatives,
Emiliano Militar and his wife. Emiliano reported and registered
Grace Poe as a foundling with the Office of the Civil Registrar of
Iloilo City. Fenando Poe, Jr. and Susan Roces adopted Grace Poe.
1991 Poe went to the US to be a permanent resident therein
2001 She became a naturalized US citizen
First quarter of 2005 she came back to the Philippines to
permanently reside herein
February 14, 2006- she went back to the US to dispose family
belongings
July 18, 2006 she re-acquired Filipino citizenship
According to Poe in her 2013 COC for Senator, before the May
13, 2013 election, she has been a resident of the Philippines for 6
years and 6 months (reckoned from year 2006 when she reacquired her Filipino citizenship under RA 9225).
Poe filed her COC for Presidency for the May 9, 2016
elections (hence, computing from May, 2013, she has been a
resident in the Philippines for 9 years and 6 months only)
However, in her COC, Poe declared that she is a natural born and
her residence in the Philippine up to the day before election would
be 10 years and 11 months counted from May 24, 2005 (when
she returned from the US to the Philippines for good).
RULING OF THE SUPREME COURT
Poe is qualified to be a candidate for President in the National and
Local Election on May 9, 2016.

1)
a)
b)
c)

Is Poe, a foundling, a natural-born citizen? Yes, based on:

Circumstantial evidence
Legislation
Generally accepted principles of international law

Circumstantial evidence

There is more than sufficient evidence that Poe has Filipino parents
and is therefore a natural-born Filipino. xxx. [T]here is a high
probability that her parents are Filipinos. The Solicitor General
offered official Statistics from the Philippine Statistics office that
from 1965 to 1975, the total number of foreigners born in the
Philippines was 15,985. While the Filipinos born in the country were
more than 10 Million. On this basis, there is a 99% chance that the
child born in the Philippines would be a Filipino which in turn, would
indicate more than ample probability that Poes parents are
Filipinos.
Other circumstantial evidence of the nationality of Poes parents
are the fact that:
1. She was abandoned in a Roman Catholic Church in Iloilo
2. She has typical Filipino features.
There are disputable presumptions that things have happened
according to the ordinary course of nature. On this basis, it is safer
to assume that Poes parents are Filipinos. To assume otherwise is
to accept the absurd.

Legislation
Foundlings are as a class, natural born citizens.
The amendment to the Constitution proposed by constitutionalist
Rafols to include foundlings as natural born citizens was not carried
out, not because there was any objection to the notion that persons
of unknown parentage are not citizens, but only because their
number was not enough to merit specific mention. There was no
intent or language that would permit discrimination against
foundlings. On the contrary, all three Constitutions guarantee the
basic right to equal protection of the laws.
Likewise, domestic laws on adoption support the principle that
foundlings are Filipinos. These laws do not provide that adoption
confers citizenship upon the adoptee, rather, the adoptee must be
Filipino in the first place to be adopted.
Recent legislation all expressly refer to Filipino children and
include foundlings as among Filipino children who may be adopted.

Generally accepted principles of international law

The common thread of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the Convention
on
the
Rights
of
the
Child and
the International
Convent
on
Civil
and
Political
Rights obligates the Philippines to grant nationality from birth and
to ensure that no child is stateless. The principles stated in the:
1.
Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relation to the Conflict
of Nationality laws (that a foundling is presumed to have the
nationality of the country of birth)
2.
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (foundling is
presumed born of citizens of the country where he is found) bind
the Philippines although we are not signatory to these conventions.
Poes evidence shows that at least 60 countries in Asia, North and
South America and Europe have passed legislation recognizing
foundlings as its citizens. 166 out of 189 countries accept that
foundlings are recognized as citizens. Hence, there is a generally
accepted principle of international law to presume foundlings as
having been born and a national of the country in which it is found.

2)

After renouncing her American citizenship and after having taken

her Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines, has Poe reacquired her status as a natural-born Filipino citizen? Yes, Poes
repatriation resulted to reacquisition of natural born
citizenship.
A natural born citizen before he lost his Philippine nationality will be
restored to his former status as natural born Filipino after
repatriation (Benson v. HRET, Pareno v. Commission on Audit etc).

3)

Has Poe satisfied the 10 year residency requirement? Yes, she

will have been a resident for 10 years and 11 months on the
day of the election.
[T]here is overwhelming evidence that leads to no to other
conclusion that Poe decided to permanently abandon her US
residence and reside in the Philippines as early as May 24, 2005.

Poe presented voluminous evidence showing that she and her

family abandoned their US domicile and relocated to the Philippines
for good. These evidence include former US passport showing her
arrival on May 24, 2005 and her return to the Philippines every time
she travelled abroad, email correspondences with freight company
to arrange for the shipment of household items as well as with the
pet Bureau; school records of her children showing enrolment in the
Philippine to the Philippine schools starting on June 2005 etc. xxx
These evidence, coupled with her eventual application to reacquire
Philippine citizenship is clear that when she returned in May 2005,
it was for good.
Poe was able to prove that her statement in her 2013 COC was only
a mistake in good faith. As explained by Grace Poe, she
misunderstood the date required in the 2013 COC as the period of
residence as of the day she submitted that COC in 2012. She said
that she reckoned residency from April-May 2006 which was the
period when the U.S. house was sold and her husband returned to
the Philippines. In that regard, she was advised by her lawyers in
2015 that residence could be counted from 25 May 2005. Such a
mistake could be given in evidence against her but it was by no
means conclusive considering the overwhelming evidence
submitted by Poe.
--------------------------------------end----------------------------------------------NOTE: The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Philippines. It
is the court of last resort, which means that it gives the final
disposition to a case which cannot be overturned by any other
court but itself. In short, it resolves controversies once and for all.
Whatever it says, forms part of the law of the land; whatever it
says, binds us all Filipinos, even our children yet to be born unless it
has decided differently in another subsequent case.
Classic display of power and personal interests, well-executed but
of course, highly doubted. This is a shameless disregard of the
most fundamental law, a revolutionary turn-around from the rule of
law, slavery to the should-be infallible, thief to lawyers and
aspirants, the downfall of a highly respected profession, an
evidence of the evils of corruption. What else could happen in this
country?

blind,
As a law student, I am deeply frustrated but this is more reason for
me to be one of the lawyers who stand for and by the law,
inviolable as it is, sacred in its letters and spirit. Never shall I play

never

shall

be

As it ever was and should always be--dura lex sed lex.

blinded.