MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE- She married Teodoro Misael Daniel V.

Llamanzares, a
LLAMANZARES, Petitioners, citizen of both the Philippines and the U.S., in San
vs. Juan City and decided to flew back to the U.S. after
COMELEC AND ESTRELLA C. their wedding. She gave birth to her eldest child while
ELAMPARO, Respondents. in the U.S.; and her two daughters in the Philippines.

G.R. No. 221697 March 8, 2016 She became a naturalized American citizen in 2001.
She came back to the Philippines to support her
x–––––––––––––––––––––––x father’s candidacy for president in the May 2004
elections and gave birth to her youngest daughter. They
MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE-
then returned to the U.S. in 2004 but after few months,
LLAMANZARES, Petitioners,
she rushed back to the Philippines to attend to her
vs.
ailing father. After her father’s death, the petitioner and
COMELEC, FRANCISCO S. TATAD, ANTONIO
her husband decided to move and reside permanently
P. CONTRERAS AND AMADO D.
in the Philippines in 2005 and immediately secured a
VALDEZ Respondents.
TIN, then her children followed suit; acquired property
G.R. No. 221698-700 where she and her children resided.

PEREZ, J.: In 2006, She took her Oath of Allegiance to the

Republic of the Philippines pursuant to RA No. 9225
Facts: or the Citizenship retention and Re-acquisition Act of
2003; she filed a sworn petition to reacquire Philippine
Petitioner Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares
citizenship together with petitions for derivative
was found abandoned as a newborn infant in the Parish
citizenship on behalf of her three children which was
Church of Jaro, Iloilo on Sept. 3, 1968. After passing
granted. She registered as a voter; secured Philippine
the parental care and custody over petitioner by
passport; appointed and took her oath as Chairperson
Edgardo Militar to Emiliano Militar and his wife, she
of the MTRCB after executing an affidavit of
has been reported and registered as a foundling and
Renunciation of American citizenship before the Vice
issued a Foundling Certificate and Certificate of Live
Consul of the USA and was issued a Certificate of Loss
Birth, thus was given the name, Mary Grace Natividad
of Nationality of the USA in 2011.
Contreras Militar.
In 2012, she filed with the COMELEC her Certificate
When the petitioner reached the age of five (5),
of Candidacy (COC) for Senator for the 2013 Elections
celebrity spouses Ronal Allan Kelley (aka Fernando
wherein she answered “6 years and 6 months” to the
Poe, Jr) and Jesusa Sonora Poe (aka Susan Roces) filed
question “Period of residence in the Philippines before
a petition foe her adoption. The trial court granted their
May 13, 2013.” Petitioner obtained the highest number
petition and ordered that her name be changed to Mary
of votes and was proclaimed Senator on 16 May 2013.
Grace Natividad Sonora Poe.
On 15 October 2015, petitioner filed her COC for the
Petitioner registered as a voter in San Juan City at the
Presidency for the May 2016 Elections. In her COC,
age of 18 in 1986; in 1988, she applied and was issued
the petitioner declared that she is a natural-born citizen
Philippine Passport by the DFA; in 1993 and 1998, she
and that her residence in the Philippines up to the day
renewed her passport.
before 9 May 2016 would be ten (10) years and eleven
She left for the United States (U.S.) in 1988 to continue (11) months counted from 24 May 2005. The petitioner
her studies after enrolling and pursuing a degree in attached to her COC an “Affidavit Affirming
Development Studies at the University of the Renunciation of U.S.A. Citizenship” subscribed and
Philippines. She graduated in 1991 from Boston sworn to before a notary public in Quezon City on 14
College where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree October 2015.
in Political Studies.
Petitions were filed before the COMELEC to deny or
cancel her candidacy on the ground particularly, among
others, that she cannot be considered a natural-born
Filipino citizen since she cannot prove that her
biological parents or either of them were
Filipinos. The COMELEC en banc cancelled her
candidacy on the ground that she was in want of
citizenship and residence requirements, and that she
committed material misrepresentations in her COC.
On certiorari, the Supreme Court reversed the ruling
and held (9-6 votes) that Poe is qualified as a candidate
for Presidency. Three justices, however, abstained to
vote on the natural-born citizenship issue.
Issue:
Whether or not Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-
Llamanzares is a natural-born Filipino citizen.
Held:
Yes. Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares may
be considered a natural-born Filipino.
It ruled that a foundling is a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines as there is no restrictive language which
would definitely exclude foundlings as they are already
impliedly so recognized.
There are also no provisions in the Constitution with
intent or language permitting discrimination against
foundlings as the three Constitutions guarantee the
basic right to equal protection of the laws.
Foundlings are citizens under international law as this
is supported by some treaties, adhering to the
customary rule to presume foundlings as having born
of the country in which the foundling is found.
POE-LLAMANZARES vs COMELEC (G.R. Nos.
221697 & 221698-700)
POE-LLAMANZARES vs COMELEC
G.R. Nos. 221697
& 221698-700
THE PETITION:
The petition is composed of two consolidated petitions
under Rule 64 in relation to Rule 65 of the Rules of
Court with extremely urgent application for an ex parte
issuance of temporary restraining order/status quo ante
order and/or writ of preliminary injunction assailing
the following:
1. DECEMBER 1, 2015 RESOLUTION OF THE
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS SECOND
DIVISION (Cancelled petitioner’s certificate of
candidacy);
2. DECEMBER 23, 2015 RESOLUTION OF
THE COMELEC EN BANC
(Denied petitioner’s motion for reconsideration);
and
3. DECEMBER 11, 2015 RESOLUTION OF
THE COMELEC FIRST DIVISION
(Declared that petitioner is not a natural-born citizen,
that she failed to complete the ten (10) year residency
requirement, and that she committed material
misrepresentation in her COC when she declared
therein that she has been a resident of the Philippines
for a period of ten 10 years and 11 months as of the
day of the elections on 9 May 2016)
FACTS OF THE CASE:
September 3, 1968
Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares
(petitioner) was found abandoned as a newborn
infant in the Parish Church of Jaro, Iloilo by a
certain Edgardo Militar. Custody over petitioner
was passed on by Edgardo to his relatives,
Emiliano Militar and his wife.
September 6, 1968
Emiliano Militar reported and registered petitioner
as a foundling with the Office of the Civil
Registrar of Iloilo City (OCR-Iloilo).
1973
When petitioner was five (5) years old, celebrity
spouses Ronald Allan Kelley Poe (a.k.a. Fenando Poe,
Jr.) and Jesusa Sonora Poe (Susan Roces) filed a
petition for her adoption with the Municipal Trial
Court
(MTC) of San Juan City.
May 13, 1974
The Poe spouses’ petition for adoption was granted
by the trial court and ordered that petitioner's name
be changed from "Mary Grace Natividad Contreras
Militar" to "Mary Grace Natividad Sonora Poe."
December 13, 1986
Having reached the age of 18, petitioner registered
as a voter with the local COMELEC Office in San
Juan City.
April 4, 1988
Petitioner applied for and was issued Philippine
Passport No. F9272876 by the Department of
Foreign Affairs
1988-1991
Initially, the petitioner enrolled and pursued a
degree in Development Studies at the University of
the Philippines but opted to continue her studies
abroad and left for the U.S. in 1988.
Petitioner graduated in 1991 from Boston College in
Chestnuts Hill
July 27, 1991
Petitioner married Teodoro Misael Daniel V.
Llamanzares, a citizen of both the Philippines and
the U.S., at Sanctuario de San Jose Parish in San
Juan City.
July 29, 1991
Desirous of being with her husband who was then
based in the U.S., the couple flew back to the U.S.
April16, 1992
Petitioner gave birth to her eldest child Brian
Daniel
April 5, 1993
Renewed her Philippines passport.
May 19, 1998
Renewed her Philippines passport.
July 10, 1998
Petitioner gave birth to daughter Hanna
MacKenzie.
October 18, 2001
Petitioner became a naturalized American citizen
April 8, 2004 – July 8, 2004
Petitioner came back to the Philippines together
with Hanna to support her father's candidacy for
President in the May 2004 elections. It was during
this time that she gave birth to her youngest
daughter Anika.
December 13, 2004 – February 3, 2005
Petitioner rushed back to the Philippines upon
learning of her father's deteriorating medical
condition that died shortly.
2005
Petitioner and husband began preparing for their
resettlement including notification of their
children's schools that they will be transferring to
Philippine schools
May 24, 2005
Petitioner came home to the Philippines and
without delay, secured a Tax Identification
Number from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
March 2006
The petitioner's husband officially informed the
U.S. Postal Service of the family's change and
abandonment of their address in the U.S. petitioner
and her husband acquired a 509-square meter lot in
Corinthian Hills, Quezon City where they built
their family home.
July 7, 2006
Petitioner took her Oath of Allegiance to the
Republic of the Philippines pursuant to Republic
Act (R.A.) No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention
and Re-acquisition Act of 2003.
July 18, 2006
The Bureau of Immigration acted favorably on
petitioner's petitions and declared that she is
deemed to have reacquired her Philippine
citizenship.
August 31, 2006
Again, petitioner registered as a voter of Barangay
Santa Lucia, San Juan City. She also secured from
the DFA a new Philippine Passport bearing the No.
XX4731999.
October 6, 2010
President Benigno S. Aquino III appointed
petitioner as Chairperson of the Movie and
Television Review and Classification Board
(MTRCB).
October 20, 2010
Before assuming her post, petitioner executed an
"Affidavit of Renunciation of Allegiance to the
United States of America and Renunciation of
American Citizenship" before a notary public in
Pasig City.
October 21, 2010
Petitioner submitted the said affidavit to the
Bureau of Immigration and took her oath of office
as Chairperson of the MTRCB. From then on,
petitioner stopped using her American passport.
July 12, 2011
The petitioner executed before the Vice Consul of
the U.S. Embassy in Manila an "Oath/Affirmation
of Renunciation of Nationality of the United
States" and stated that she in the Philippines, from
3 September 1968 to 29 July 1991 and from May
2005 to present.
December 9, 2011
The U.S. Vice Consul issued to petitioner a
"Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United
States" effective 21 October 2010.
October 2, 2012
The petitioner filed with the COMELEC her
Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Senator for the
2013 Elections wherein she answered "6 years and
6 months" to the question "Period of residence in
the Philippines before May 13, 2013."
October 15, 2015
Petitioner filed her COC for the Presidency for the
May 2016 Elections.
In her COC, the petitioner declared that she is a
natural-born citizen and that her residence in the
Philippines up to the day before 9 May 2016 would be
ten (10) years and eleven (11) months counted from 24
May 2005.
Petitioner's filing of her COC for President in the
upcoming elections triggered the filing of several
COMELEC cases against her which were the subject of
these consolidated cases.
ISSUES:
1. With regard to: a) being a foundling, and b) her
repatriation, is the petitioner a natural-born citizen of
the Philippines? YES TO BOTH.
2. Did the petitioner meet the 10-year residency
requirement for running as president? YES.
Did the petitioner commit material misrepresentation in
her Certificate of Candidacy? NO.
RATIONALE:
1. Is petitioner a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines?
ON BEING A FOUNDLING:
As a matter of law, foundlings are as a class, natural-
born citizens.
The Family Code of the Philippines has a whole
chapter on Paternity and Filiation. That said, there is
more than sufficient evidence that petitioner has
Filipino parents and is therefore a natural-born
Filipino.
The factual issue is not who the parents of petitioner
are, as their identities are unknown, but whether such
parents are Filipinos. Under Section 4, Rule 128:
Sec. 4. Relevancy, collateral matters - Evidence must
have such a relation to the fact in issue as to induce
belief in its existence or non-existence. Evidence on
collateral matters shall not be allowed, except when it
tends in any reasonable degree to establish the
probability of improbability of the fact in issue.
Parenthetically, the burden of proof was on private
respondents to show that petitioner is not a Filipino
citizen. The private respondents should have shown
that both of petitioner's parents were aliens. Her
admission that she is a foundling did not shift the
burden to her because such status did not exclude the
possibility that her parents were Filipinos, especially as
in this case where there is a high probability, if not
certainty, that her parents are Filipinos.
The Solicitor General offered official statistics from
the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that from
1965 to 1975, the total number of foreigners born in
the Philippines was 15,986 while the total number of
Filipinos born in the country was 10,558,278. The
statistical probability that any child born in the
Philippines in that decade is natural-born Filipino was
99.83%.
Domestic laws on adoption also support the principle
that foundlings are Filipinos. These laws do not
provide that adoption confers citizenship upon the
adoptee. Rather, the adoptee must be a Filipino in the
first place to be adopted.
Other circumstantial evidence of the nationality of
petitioner's parents are the fact that she was abandoned
as an infant in a Roman Catholic Church in Iloilo City.
She also has typical Filipino features: height, flat nasal
bridge, straight black hair, almond-shaped eyes and an
oval face.
Foundlings are likewise citizens under international
law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
("UDHR") has been interpreted by this Court as part of
the generally accepted principles of international law
and binding on the State.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 15:
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality
nor denied the
right to change his nationality.
In 1986, the country also ratified the 1966 International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Article 24 thereof provide for the right of every child
"to acquire a nationality:"
To deny full Filipino citizenship to all foundlings and
render them stateless just because there may be a
theoretical chance that one among the thousands of
these foundlings might be the child of not just one, but
two, foreigners is downright discriminatory, irrational,
and unjust. It just doesn't make any sense. Given the
statistical certainty - 99.9% - that any child born in the
Philippines would be a natural born citizen, a decision
denying foundlings such status is effectively a denial of
their birthright. There is no reason to sacrifice the
fundamental political rights of an entire class of human
beings.
While the 1935 Constitution's enumeration is silent as
to foundlings, there is no restrictive language which
would definitely exclude foundlings either.
ON PETITIONER’S REPATRIATION
The COMELEC ruled that petitioner's repatriation in
July 2006 under the provisions of R.A. No. 9225 did
not result in the reacquisition of natural-born
citizenship. The COMELEC reasoned that since the
applicant must perform an act, what is reacquired is not
"natural-born" citizenship but only plain "Philippine
citizenship."
According to the Supreme Court, the COMELEC's
ruling disregarded consistent jurisprudence on the
matter of repatriation.
In the seminal case of Bengson Ill v. HRET,
repatriation was explained as follows:
…Repatriation results in the recovery of the original
nationality. This means that a naturalized Filipino who
lost his citizenship will be restored to his prior status as
a naturalized Filipino citizen. On the other hand, if he
was originally a natural-born citizen before he lost his
Philippine citizenship, he will be restored to his former
status as a natural-bom Filipino.
Also, COMELEC's position that natural-born status
must be continuous was already rejected in Bengson
vs. HRET where the phrase "from birth" was clarified
to mean at the time of birth: "A person who at the time
of his birth, is a citizen of a particular country, is a
natural-born citizen thereof."
2. Did the petitioner meet the 10-year residency
requirement for running as president?
ON RESIDENCE
The Constitution requires presidential candidates to
have 10 years residence in the Philippines before the
day of the elections.
Petitioner presented voluminous evidence showing that
she and her family abandoned their U.S. domicile and
relocated to the Philippines for good. These evidence
include petitioner's former U.S. passport showing her
arrival on 24 May 2005 and her return to the
Philippines every time she travelled abroad; e-mail
correspondences starting in March 2005 to September
2006 with a freight company to arrange for the
shipment of their household items weighing about
28,000 pounds to the Philippines; e-mail with the
Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry inquiring how to
ship their dog to the Philippines; school records of her
children showing enrollment in Philippine schools
starting June 2005 and for succeeding years; tax
identification card for petitioner issued on July 2005;
titles for condominium and parking slot issued in
February 2006 and their corresponding tax declarations
issued in April 2006; receipts dated 23 February 2005
from the Salvation Army in the U.S. acknowledging
donation of items from petitioner's family; March 2006
e-mail to the U.S. Postal Service confirming request for
change of address; final statement from the First
American Title Insurance Company showing sale of CONCLUSION:
their U.S. home on 27 April 2006; 12 July 2011 filled-
up questionnaire submitted to the U.S. Embassy where The procedure and the conclusions from which the
petitioner indicated that she had been a Philippine questioned Resolutions emanated are tainted with
resident since May 2005; affidavit from Jesusa Sonora grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of
Poe (attesting to the return of petitioner on 24 May jurisdiction. The petitioner is a QUALIFIED
2005 and that she and her family stayed with affiant CANDIDATE for President in the 9 May 2016
until the condominium was purchased); and Affidavit National Elections.
from petitioner's husband (confirming that the spouses
jointly decided to relocate to the Philippines in
2005 and that he stayed behind in the U.S. only to
finish some work and to
sell the family home).

The evidence of petitioner is overwhelming and

coupled with her eventual application to reacquire
Philippine citizenship and her family's actual
continuous stay taken together, lead to no other
conclusion that when she came here on May 24 2005,
her intention was to permanently abandon the United
States. Petitioner also actually re-established her
residence here on 24 May 2005.

ON MATERIAL MISREPRESENTATION

The COMELEC ruled that petitioner's claim of

residence of ten (10) years and eleven (11) months by 9
May 2016 in her 2015 COC was false because she put
six ( 6) years and six (6) months as "period of
residence before May 13, 2013" in her 2012 COC for
Senator. Thus, according to the COMELEC, she started
being a Philippine resident only in November 2006. In
doing so, the COMELEC automatically assumed as
true the statement in the 2012 COC and the 2015 COC
as false.

As explained by petitioner in her verified pleadings,

she misunderstood the date required in the 2013 COC
as the period of residence as of the day she submitted
that COC in 2012.

Her explanation that she misunderstood the query in

2012 (period of residence before 13 May 2013) as
inquiring about residence as of the time she submitted
the COC, is strengthened by the change which the
COMELEC itself introduced in the 2015 COC which is
now "period of residence in the Philippines up to the
day before May 09, 2016." The COMELEC would not
have revised the query if it did not acknowledge that
the first version was vague.

Thus, it was grave abuse of discretion for the

COMELEC to treat the 2012 COC as a binding and
conclusive admission against petitioner.
Tecson vs. Commission on Elections
[GR 151434, 3 March 2004]
Facts:
On 31 December 2003, Ronald Allan Kelly Poe,
also known as Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ), filed his
certificate of candidacy for the position of President of
the Republic of the Philippines under the Koalisyon ng
Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) Party, in the 2004
national elections. In his certificate of candidacy, FPJ,
representing himself to be a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, stated his name to be "Fernando Jr.," or
"Ronald Allan" Poe, his date of birth to be 20 August
1939 and his place of birth to be Manila. Victorino X.
Fornier, (GR 161824) initiated, on 9 January 2004, a
petition (SPA 04-003) before the Commission on
Elections (COMELEC) to disqualify FPJ and to deny
due course or to cancel his certificate of candidacy
upon the thesis that FPJ made a material
misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy by
claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen when in
truth, according to Fornier, his parents were foreigners;
his mother, Bessie Kelley Poe, was an American, and
his father, Allan Poe, was a Spanish national, being the
son of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject. Granting,
Fornier asseverated, that Allan F. Poe was a Filipino
citizen, he could not have transmitted his Filipino
citizenship to FPJ, the latter being an illegitimate child
of an alien mother. Fornier based the allegation of the
illegitimate birth of FPJ on two assertions: (1) Allan F.
Poe contracted a prior marriage to a certain Paulita
Gomez before his marriage to Bessie Kelley and, (2)
even if no such prior marriage had existed, Allan F.
Poe, married Bessie Kelly only a year after the birth of
FPJ. On 23 January 2004, the COMELEC dismissed
SPA 04-003 for lack of merit. 3 days later, or on 26
January 2004, Fornier filed his motion for
reconsideration. The motion was denied on 6 February
2004 by the COMELEC en banc. On 10 February
2004, Fornier assailed the decision of the COMELEC
before the Supreme Court conformably with Rule 64,
in relation to Rule 65, of the Revised Rules of Civil
Procedure. The petition likewise prayed for a
temporary restraining order, a writ of preliminary
injunction or any other resolution that would stay the
finality and/or execution of the COMELEC
resolutions. The other petitions, later consolidated with
GR 161824, would include GR 161434 and GR
161634, both challenging the jurisdiction of the
COMELEC and asserting that, under Article VII,
Section 4, paragraph 7, of the 1987 Constitution, only
the Supreme Court had original and exclusive
jurisdiction to resolve the basic issue on the case.
Issue:
Whether FPJ was a natural born citizen, so as to be
allowed to run for the offcie of the President of the
Philippines.
Held:
Section 2, Article VII, of the 1987 Constitution
expresses that "No person may be elected President
unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a
registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty
years of age on the day of the election, and a resident
of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately
preceding such election." The term "natural-born
citizens," is defined to include "those who are citizens
of the Philippines from birth without having to perform
any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine
citizenship." Herein, the date, month and year of birth
of FPJ appeared to be 20 August 1939 during the
regime of the 1935 Constitution. Through its history,
four modes of acquiring citizenship - naturalization, jus
soli, res judicata and jus sanguinis – had been in vogue.
Only two, i.e., jus soli and jus sanguinis, could qualify
a person to being a “natural-born” citizen of the
Philippines. Jus soli, per Roa vs. Collector of Customs
(1912), did not last long. With the adoption of the 1935
Constitution and the reversal of Roa in Tan Chong vs.
Secretary of Labor (1947), jus sanguinis or blood
relationship would now become the primary basis of
citizenship by birth. Considering the reservations made
by the parties on the veracity of some of the entries on
the birth certificate of FPJ and the marriage certificate
of his parents, the only conclusions that could be drawn
with some degree of certainty from the documents
would be that (1) The parents of FPJ were Allan F. Poe
and Bessie Kelley; (2) FPJ was born to them on 20
August 1939; (3) Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley were
married to each other on 16 September, 1940; (4) The
father of Allan F. Poe was Lorenzo Poe; and (5) At the
time of his death on 11 September 1954, Lorenzo Poe
was 84 years old. The marriage certificate of Allan F.
Poe and Bessie Kelley, the birth certificate of FPJ, and
the death certificate of Lorenzo Pou are documents of
public record in the custody of a public officer. The
documents have been submitted in evidence by both
contending parties during the proceedings before the
COMELEC. But while the totality of the evidence may
not establish conclusively that FPJ is a natural-born
citizen of the Philippines, the evidence on hand still
would preponderate in his favor enough to hold that he
cannot be held guilty of having made a material
misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy in
violation of Section 78, in relation to Section 74, of the
Omnibus Election Code. Fornier has utterly failed to
substantiate his case before the Court, notwithstanding
the ample opportunity given to the parties to present
their position and evidence, and to prove whether or
not there has been material misrepresentation, which,
as so ruled in Romualdez-Marcos vs. COMELEC,
must not only be material, but also deliberate and
willful. The petitions were dismissed.
Tecson vs. Commission on Elections
[GR 151434, 3 March 2004]
FACTS:
Respondent Ronald Allan Kelly Poe, also known as
Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ) filed his certificate of
candidacy on 31 December 2003 for the position of
President of the Republic of the Philippines in the
forthcoming national elections. In his certificate of
candidacy, FPJ, representing himself to be a natural-
born citizen of the Philippines, stated his name to be
"Fernando Jr.," or "Ronald Allan" Poe, his date of birth
to be 20 August 1939 and his place of birth to be
Manila.
Lorenzo Poe, father of Allan Poe, who in turn was the
father of private respondent Fernando Poe, Jr. indicates
that he died on September 11, 1954 at the age of 84
years, in San Carlos, Pangasinan. Evidently, in such
death certificate, the residence of Lorenzo Poe was
stated to be San Carlos, Pangansinan. In the absence of
any evidence to the contrary, it should be sound to
conclude, or at least to presume, that the place of
residence of a person at the time of his death was also
his residence before death. Considering that the
allegations of petitioners are not substantiated with
proof and since Lorenzo Poe may have been benefited
from the “en masse Filipinization” that the Philippine
Bill had effected in 1902, there is no doubt that Allan
Poe father of private respondent Fernando Poe, Jr. was
a Filipino citizen. And, since the latter was born on
August 20, 1939, governed under 1935 Constitution,
which constitution considers as citizens of the
Philippines those whose fathers are citizens of the
Philippines, Fernando Poe, Jr. was in fact a natural-
born citizen of the Philippines regardless of whether or
not he is legitimate or illegitimate.

Petitioner Fornier filed before the COMELEC a

petition to disqualify FPJ and cancel his certificate of
candidacy by claiming that FPJ is not a natural-born
Filipino citizen, his parents were foreigners: his
mother, Bessie Kelley Poe, was an American, and his
father, Allan Poe, was a Spanish national, being the son
of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject.

The COMELEC dismissed the petition for lack of

merit.

ISSUE:

Whether or not FPJ is a natural-born citizen of the

Philippines.

HELD:

Section 2, Article VII, of the 1987 Constitution

expresses:
No person may be elected President unless he is a
natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered
voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age
on the day of the election, and a resident of the
Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding
such election.

Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the

Philippines from birth without having to perform any
act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.
Based on the evidence presented which the Supreme
consider as viable is the fact that the death certificate of