SET Decision

This resolves a Petition for Quo Warranto filed with the Senate Electoral
Tribunal (SET) seeking to unseat Grace Poe as Senator on the
grounds that: (a) she is not a natural born citizen of the Philippines;
and (b) lacks the residency requirement.
(A) Facts
Grace Poe was found on September 3, 1968 at the Parish Church of Jaro
by Mr. Emiliano Militar.
She was adopted when she was 5 years old by Fernando Poe and Susan
Roces.
In 1991, she married Teodoro Llamanzares, a dual citizen of Philippines
and US. She became a naturalized American citizen in 2001 and was
issued a passport.
In 2006, she executed an oath of allegiance to the Philippines and filed
with the BIR a Petition for Reacquisition of Filipino Citizenship, under RA
9225.
In 2010, she executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of Allegiance to the
US and Renunciation of American Citizenship. In 2011, she was issued
a Certificate of Loss of Nationality by the US Vice Consul.
In 2013, she ran for Senator.
(B) Relevant laws
Law
Position
Section 1, Article IV of the 1935 According to David, Poe,
Constitution states that citizens of the to be considered as a
Philippines are:
natural
born
Filipino
under the Constitution,
***
must have had parents
who
were
Filipino
(3) Those whose fathers are citizens of the citizens. As a foundling,
Philippines;
her
parents
are
unknown and therefore
(4) Those whose mothers are citizens of cannot be presumed
the Philippines, and upon reaching the age Filipino citizens.
of majority, elect Philippine citizenship.
Section 2, Article III of the Constitution
provides for the adoption of generally

accepted principles of international law

as part of Philippine law.
Article 14 of the 1930 Hague Convention According to David, the
on Certain Questions Relating to the Philippines has not yet
Conflict of Nationality Law states that:
acceded
to
this
Convention, so Section
A child whose parents are both unknown 2, Article III of the
shall have the nationality of the country of Constitution does not
birth. *** A foundling is, until the contrary apply
is proved, presumed to have been born on
the territory of the State in which it was
found.
Article 2 of the 1961 UN Convention on According to David, the
the Reduction of Statelessness provides Philippines has not yet
that:
acceded
to
this
Convention, so Section
A founding found in the territory of a 2, Article III of the
Contracting State shall, in the absence of Constitution does not
proof to the contrary, be considered to apply
have been born within the territory of
parents possessing the nationality of that
State.
Article 7 of the UN Convention on the According to Poe, the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides Philippines has ratified
that a child, from birth, shall have the these conventions, and
right to acquire a nationality.
must therefore perform
Article 25 of the 1966 International its obligations under a
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights treaty in good faith,
(ICCPR) provides that every child has under the principle of
pacta sunt servanda.
the right to acquired a nationality.
According to Poe, the
UNCRC and the ICCPR
create an obligation on
the
part
of
the
Philippines to recognize
a foundling as its citizen
from the time of birth.
While
neither
conventions were in
force when she was
born in 1968, they may
be applied retroactively,
otherwise,
it
discriminate
against

Article 15 of the 1948 Universal

Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
provides that everyone has the right to a
nationality.
RA 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and
Reacquisition Act of 2003

foundlings.
According to Poe, the
UDHR has been adopted
by the UN General
Assembly of which the
Philippines is a member.
According to Poe, she
validly reacquired her
natural born citizenship
when: (a) she took her
oath of allegiance in
2006 under RA 9225;
and (b) she executed an
Affidavit of Renunciation
of Allegiance to the US
and Renunciation of
American Citizenship in
2010.

Deliberations of the 1934 Constitutional

Convention on citizenship shows that the
framers of the 1935 Constitution did not
intent to exclude foundlings from naturalborn Philippine citizenship.
(C) Rulings
1. Poe is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines

The 1934 Constitutional Convention shows that the framers of

the 1935 Constitution did not intent to exclude foundlings
from natural-born Philippine citizenship, and intended to adopt
the Spanish concept that children of unknown parentage born
in Spanish territory are considered as Spaniards.

While Philippines is not a signatory to the Hague Convention

on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality of
Law, its provisions are binding on the Philippines because the
Philippines adopts the generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the nation

Article 1 of the 1930 Hague Convention provides that each

State may determine under its own law who are its nationals.
Thus, the SET believes that the framers of the 1935
Constitution were sufficiently empowered to create a class of

natural-born citizens by legal fiction, as an exception to the

jus sanguinis rule (which is the citizenship by blood rule)
2. Poe reacquired her natural-born Filipino citizenship when she took
her oath of allegiance under RA 9225
3. Poe also already renounced her American citizenship, which was
approved by the US when a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the
United States was issued by USA Vice Consul in 2011
4. While Poe still used her US passport after taking the oath in 2006,
she was still a dual citizen at that time (since she has not renounced
her American citizenship yet). Therefore, her use of the passport
was in order. In fact, she stopped using her American passport after
she renounced her US citizenship in 2010.
BAM ACQUINO Separate Opinion

Philippines adheres to the principles of the Convention of Rights

of the Children to have the right to a nationality, and the 1930
Hague Convention that a child whose parents are both unknown
shall have the nationality of the country of birth. Thus, a
foundling is presumed to have been born in the territory of the
State in which he/she was found, unless proven otherwise.

Excerpts of 1934 Constitutional Convention deliberations reveal

that the Constitution does not refer to foundlings, only because
they are so few and far in between that it is not necessary to
include a provision on foundlings exclusively. However, the
intent is to recognize children born in a country of unknown
parents as citizens of this nation.

The presumption is that those who have less in life should be

afforded the most basic right. Logic dictates that foundlings are
not naturalized nor stateless, but natural born citizens of the
Philippines.

JUSTICE CARPIO Dissenting Opinion

(A) Poe is a Filipino citizen, but she has failed to prove that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen.

There is no customary international law presuming a foundling

as a citizen of the country where he or she is found.

o The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the

ICCPR provide that a child has the right to acquire a
nationality. However, the Philippines ratified the 1989
Convention in 1990, whereas Poe was born in 1968. Also,
the Convention and the ICCPR merely guarantee the right
to acquire a nationality, but does not guarantee the child a
nationality, much less a natural born nationality at birth.
o The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights merely
affirms the right of every human being to a nationality, but
does not obligate states to automatically grant nationality,
much less natural-born citizenship, at birth.
o The Philippines is not a signatory of the 1930 Hague
Convention.
Also, in any case, Article 14 merely states
that the foundling shall have the nationality of the country
of birth, and does not provide that the foundling shall have
nationality at birth.
Natural-born citizenship is not
guaranteed here.
o The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
provides that a Contracting State must grant nationality to
a person born in its territory who would otherwise be
stateless. However, the Philippines is not a signatory to
this Convention. In any case, the Convention does not
provide automatically that a foundling is a citizen at birth
of the country where he or she was found.

The general principle of international law applicable to

foundlings is that a foundling is considered to be domiciled in the
country where he or she is found, but not considered to have a
nationality at birth.

For a foundling to be granted citizenship, it is necessary that the

childs status as a foundling be first established.
In the
Philippines, an administrative investigation must first be
conducted to verify that the child is of unknown parentage.
Since a foundling has to perform an act to acquire Philippine
citizenship, a foundling can only be deemed a naturalized Filipino
citizen.