David v HRET:

Summary: David filed petition with SC to nullify the decision of the SET in favor of Grace Poes natural-born status
amidst actions to unseat her as senator, a position that requires natural-born status

Facts
Poe is a foundling found in the Parish Church of Jaro, Iloilo on September 3, 1968
The Local civil registrar issued a certificate of live birth/foundling cert in favor of her (under the name Mary
Grace Natividad Contreras Militar subsequently adopted by FPJ (Ronald Allan Poe) and susan roces (Jesusa
Sonora Poe)
Poe became a registered voter in GH, San Juan when she turned 18
she got her passport when she was 19 yrs old and renewed it several times (also having acquired a diplomatic
passport when she became senator)
On July 27, 1991: married Llamanzares, a Fil-Am since birth moved to the US with him, with 2 of her 3 children
being born in the US
She was naturalized and was granted American citizenship on October 18, 2001 US passport
When FPJ ran for pres in 2004, she came back to support him, but returned to the US after the elections
returned to the Philippines when FPJ slipped into a coma and she decided to return home to the Philippines on
2005
She then filed for a petition for reacquisition of her citizenship thru RA 9225 she complied with the
requirements and was granted by the Bureau of Immigration
On Oct 6, 2010 PNoy appointed her chair of the MTRCB, a position requiring natural-born status so on oct
20, 2010, she executed an affidavit of renunciation of allegiance to the US she then took an Oath of
renunciation of her Nationality of the US in the presence of a vice-consul
She decided to run as senator in the 2013 elections she won David, a losing candidate, contested
o Said she failed to comply with citizenship and residency requirements mandated by the 1987 const
after the necessary documents were suppoenaed, and after Poes answers to the allegations have been
submitted, the SET set a trial date and also agreed to drop the issue on residency
o The SET made Poe take DNA tests but these were inconclusive in shedding light to the real identity of
her biological parents
SET on Nov 17, 2015 NATURAL BORN!
o As she is a citizen of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect
her citizenship
o She also complied with the requirements of RA 9225 in reacquiring her citizenship

Issue: WON the SET committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of JD in dismissing Davids
petition to unseat Poe from the senate based on their findings that Poe is a natural-born citizen

Held: NO
I. Petitioner invokes power of Judicial review of the courts
a. The SET is a consti creation and it is segregated from all other judicial and quasi-judicial bodies the
power to rule on contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of members of senate
b. All constitutional provisions under the 1935 an 1987 constis which provide for electoral tribunals have
been unequivocal in their language SOLE judge
c. Not beyond the scope of review tho power of courts to determine WON there has been a grave abuse
of discretion amounting to lack or excess of JD on the part of ANY branch or instrumentality of gov
(extraordinary JD) limited only to determine error in JD, not error in judgement
d. Needs to be GRAVE abuse of discretion (arbitrary, capricious, or whimsical exercise of judgement as
tantamount to lack of JD)
i. There is grave abuse when SET makes:
1. Manifestly gross errors in its factual inferences such that critical pieces of evidence
are ignored
2. A glaring misinterpretation of the consti text or statutory provisions
 e. SC No basis to conclude that SET acted without or in excess of JD
i. They were confronted with a novel legal question: the citizenship status of foundlings
compelled to exercise original JD in the face of a consti ambiguity was asked to make a
reasonable explanation of the law lang couldnt have asked poe to establish her parentage
since it would be asking for the impossible therefore the SET arrived at conclusions using
substantial evidence to justify a conclusion
f. SET avoided a dangerous precedent for all foundlings (to be discussed more later)
II. David asserts poe is not a natural born on 2 grounds
a. (1) As a foundling whose parents are unknown, she fails to satisfy the jus sanguinis principle, failing to
establish the Filipino bloodline
b. (2) She was never a natural born so she couldnt have achieved the same when she complied with RA
9225
c. His case hinges on the primacy he places over Art 4 sec 1 of the 1987 consti (those whose fathers or
mothers are citizens of the Phil)
d. He also asserts burden proof to establish fiipino parentage was on poe
III. At the heart of this controversy is a consti ambiguity we need to discern consti meaning to discover the
sovereigns purpose.
a. The words the text itself govern
b. Second, if verba legis fails, we go to contemporaneous construction
c. Reading a consti provision requires awareness of its relation with the whole of the consti consti
should be read as a singular, whole unit
d. Reading a consti provision includes a consideration of JP on the issue since judicial construction
articulates the contemporaneous intent that the text brings to effect
e. Important to look how text has evolved, tracing its history such as the additions, deletions,
interpretations, shifting terminologies given to the text throughout time
f. The consti provision in question, art. IV sec 1 of the 1987 consti can be compared with its counterparts
in the earlier constitutions, as well as the organic laws that brought about our independence
g. Even if we give priority to ordinary meaning, A realistic approach of legal interpretation must grapple
with the truth that meaning is not always singular and uniform SWS v COMELEC: The more
appropriate and more effective approach is thus holistic rather than parochial: to consider context and
the interplay of the historical, the contemporary, and even the envisioned
h. Contemporaneous construction and aids that are external to the text may be resorted when the text is
capable of multiple, viable meanigns only then can we go beyond the plain text
i. An example of this is the intent of the framers as articulated thru records of delibs and other
similar accounts can be illuminating
i. Inferring meanng from intent of framers is the weakest approach in the hierarchy of the means for
constitutional interpretation
i. Leave the greatest room for subjective interpretation
ii. Can misrepresent history as it compels a comprehension of actions made within specific
historical episodes thru modern lenses
iii. The original intent of the framers of the consti is not always uniform with the original
understanding. See civil liberties union Does not give the rationale of the delegates who
were silent and did not actively engage in debate
IV. Poes status is but the logical consequence of a reasonable reading of the consti within its plain text
a. On an initial level: we consider the constis actual definition of natural-born citizens and this should be
harmonized with section 1s enumeration
b. On another level: the assumption should be that foundlings are natural-born unless there is substantial
evidence to the contrary
i. Necessarily engendered by a complete consideration of the whole consti! citizenship
provisions + provisions on defending the well-being of children, guaranteeing equal
protection, equal access to opportunities for public service
c. This is a reading validated by contemporaneous construction that considers related legislative
enactments, executive and administrative actions, and international instruments
 V. Poe was a Fil Cit at birth she never had to do anything to commensurate this status, which is by definition, a
natural born. Tho she subsequently naturalized, she reacquired her natural born status thru RA 9225
a. Art 4 sec 1 enumeration of citizens
b. Art 4 sec 2 who are natural borns
c. Citizenship legal device denoting political affiliation with corresponding rights and obligations to the
political community
d. We Filipinos had a rough road to acquiring our own citizenship
i. Spanish times we were not Spanish citizens but called indios (we were inferior)
ii. It was when spain ceded us to the US where we became citizens of the Philippine islands
Phil. Bill of 1902 Eventually was amended by Jones law of 1916, and then the 1935 consti
iii. 1935 consti term natural born first appeared here but wasnt defined (appeard in the
qualifications for pres and VP lang)
iv. 1973 consti was first to define natural born and corrected the discrimination against women
in the 1935 provision (sec 1(2)) one who is a citizen of the Philippines from birth without
having to perform any act to acquire or perfect his philppine citizenship 1987 consti
virtually adapted this word per word
v. note that natural born is a foreign concept (US when defining requirements for pres)
e. Today, 2 classes of fil cit: natural born and naturalized
i. By necessary implication, one who is naturalized is not natural born
ii. Naturalization is a rigorous process where one wanting to be naturalized has to present
evidence on, among other things, legal age, good moral character, capacity to adapt to the fil
culture, wont be a threat, and has stayed in the phil for quite some time.
f. Davids reliance on Art 4 sec 1 of the 1987 consti is misplaced! Poe being a natural born does not
have anything to do with her bloodline
i. We must ask if she had to do anything to perfect her citizenship she did not undergo
naturalization process!!!
ii. It should be with the actual process of naturalization that natural born status is to be
contrasted, not against other procedures relating to citizenship
iii. Natural born citizenship is not concerned with being a human throroughbred
1. Sec 1.2 : father or mother is a fil cit not a requirement for them to be natural born!
2. Physical features, genetics, perdigee, ethnicity arent determinative of citizenship
3. Only requires to look at one ascendant degree your parents! anyone above that
is irrelevant
g. Poe has proven that at least one, if not both of her biological parents were Filipinos
i. Being 100% sure is impossible since she was found almost 50 yrs ago
ii. You cant DNA test everyone naman
iii. Circumstantial evidence did it for her! proof of facts from which taken either singly or
collectively the existence of a particular fact in dispute may be inferred as a necessary or
probable consequence
1. found in parish church of jaro, Iloilo and illoilo then had a predominantly fil pop
2. her features are Filipino height, hair color, eyes, nose
3. her being abandoned in a cathloc church is how a 1968 filipino would have behaved
4. no airport in Iloilo highly unlikely that a foreign mother or father would go to ilolio,
give birth, leave poe in the chirch, and then leave
iv. out of 900,165 newborns in 1968, only 0.18% were foreigners 99.8% poe was born a fil cit
VI. David claims burden of proof to prove poe is a natural born is hers
a. Hes alleging so naturally he has the burden of proof
b. To require proof from poe would be obsurd
c. David simply does not want to accept the facts already presented and agreed upon by the court
imperceptive bias
VII. Consti presumes all foundling in the phil are born to at least a fil mother or father and are natural born unless
proven otherwise!
 a.Although actual proof is preferable, this court has resolved cases based on presumptions, which is
firmly established in JP
i. i.e. Tecson case: FPJs natural born status was derived from his grandfather being part of the
en masse filipinization effected by the Phil bill of 1902
ii. Paa v chan: No presumption can be indulged in favor of THE claimant of phil cit, and any doubt
regarding citizenship must be resolved in favor of the state
1. Cant be controlling anymore since tecson ruling!
2. Also the use of THE connotes a specific case, otherwise the wording wouldve used
generic language like A, or all, or any/every
b. This presumption arises when consti is read as a whole!
i. Article 4 sec 2 + art 4 sec 1.2 + consti provisions to defend well-being of children, to guarantee
equal protection of the law, equal access to opportunities for public service, and to respect
human rights
1. Cant run for certain offices discriminatory! Creates 2nd class citizens
2. Equal protection only diff lang naman is parents are uncertain and everything else
is the same
ii. + contemporaneous construction that considers leg enactments, executive and administrative
actions, and international instrumetns
1. juvenile justice and welfare act of 2006, UNCRC, 1966 international covenant on civil
and political rights, domestic adoption act, inter-country adoption act of 1995
VIII. She complied with all the requirements of RA 9225 to regain her natural-born status!
IX. To hold Poe stateless is not only to set a dangerous and callous precedent, but to make this court an accomplice!

Dissent:
Circumstantial evidence can be easily debunked
1935 was clear leaving out of foundlings in def of fil cit is telling of the intention of the framers!
Poe, upon admitting she was a foundling, burden of proof to show her parents are Filipino shifted to her
Jus sanguinis must be respected at all costs!