Case Digest of Poe VS.

Comelec
1. 1. Case Digest of Poe VS. Comelec Facts, Issues, and Ruling Ryan Carlo Ortega Pelaez
Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares VS.Comelec The Facts Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-
Llamanzares (petitioner) was found abandoned as a newborn in the Parish Church of
Jaro, Iloilo by a certain Edgardo Militar on 3rd day of September year 1968. Parental care
and custody over petitioner was passed on by Edgardo to his relatives, Emiliano Militar
and Emiliano's wife. The relatives then reported and registered the child as a founding
with the Civil Registrar of Iloilo. The child was then named Mary Grace Natividad
Contreras Militar. Grace was adopted by celebrity spouses Ronald Allan Kelley Poe
(a.k.a. Fenando Poe, Jr.) and Jesusa Sonora Poe (a.k.a. Susan Roces).The petitioner was
given the name "Mary Grace Natividad Contreras Militar"in her Foundling Certificate
and Certificate of Live Birth. The trial court granted their petition and ordered that
petitioner's name be changed from "Mary Grace Natividad Contreras Militar" to "Mary
Grace Natividad Sonora Poe" on 13th day of May year 1974. Although there
wereannotations placed in the childs foundling certificate but it was only in 2005 that
Susan Roces found out that their lawyer failed to secure a new Certificate of Live Birth
with a Poes new name as well as the name of the adoptive parents. Roces then submitted
an affidavit and in 2006, a Certificate of Live Birth in the name of Mary Grace Poe was
released by the Civil Registry of Iloilo. At the age of 18, Poe was registered as a voter of
San Juan.Initially, the petitioner was enrolled and pursued a degree in Development
Studies at the University of the Philippines but she chose to pursue her studies abroad and
left for the United States of America (U.S.) in 1988. Poe graduated in 1991 from Boston
College in Chestnuts Hill, Massachusetts where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in
Political Studies. In 1988, she was issued a Philippine passport. On 27 July 1991, Poe
married Teodoro Llamanzares and flew to the US right after the wedding. The petitioner
gave birth to her eldest child Brian Daniel (Brian) on 16th day of April year 1992 in the
US. In 2001, Poe became a naturalized American Citizen and she obtained a US Passport
that same year.
2. 2. In April 2004, Poe came back to the Philippines in order to support her fathers
candidacy. It was at this time that she gave birth to her youngest daughter. Her two
daughters Hanna MacKenzie (Hanna) and Jesusa Anika (Anika) were both born in the
Philippines on 10 July 1998 and 5 June 2004, respectively. Poe returned to the US in July
2004 with her two daughters. Poe returned in December 2004 after knowing her fathers
deteriorating condition. The latter died and Poe stayed until February 2005 to take care of
the funeral arrangements. Poe wanted to be with her grieving mother that is why she and
her husband decided to move and reside permanently in the Philippines sometime first
quarter of 2005. They prepared for resettlement including notification of their childrens
schools, coordination with property movers and inquiry with Philippine authorities as to
how they can bring their pet dog. According to Poe, as early as 2004, she already quit her
job in the US. Poe came home on May 24, 2005 and immediately secured a TIN while
her husband stayed in the US. They stayed with her mother until she and husband was
able to purchase a condominium in San Juan sometime February 2006. On February 14,
2006, Poe went back to the US to set up the other family belongings. She commuted back
in March 2006. In early 2006, Poe and husband acquired a property in Corinthian Hills in
Quezon City where they built their family home. On July 7, 2006, Poe took her Oath of
Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines pursuant to R.A. 9225. On July 10, 2006,
she filed a sworn petition to reacquire Philippine citizenship together with petitions for
derivative citizenship on behalf of her three children. The Bureau of Immigration acted in
favor of the petition on July 18, 2006. She and her children were then considered dual
citizens. Poe then registered as voter in August 2006 and secured a Philippine passport
thereafter. On October 6, 2010, she was appointed as Chairperson of the MTRCB. Before
assuming her post, she executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of Allegiance to the US
before a notary public in Pasig City on October 20, 2010. The following day, she
submitted the Affidavit to the Bureau of Immigration and took her oath as a chairperson
of MTRCB. Poe from then on, she stopped using her American passport. On July 12,
2011, Poe executed an Oath/Affirmation of Renunciation of Nationality of the US before
the Vice Consul of the US Embassy in Manila. On December 9, 2011, the US Vice
Consul issued a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the US effective October 21, 2010.
On October 2, 2012, Poe filed with COMELEC her Certificate of Candidacy for Senator
saying that she was resident of the Philippines for a period of 6 years and 6 months
before May 13, 2013. She was then proclaimed a Senator on May 16, 2013.
3. On October 15, 2015, Poe filed her COC for the Presidency for the May 2016
elections. She 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.
There were some petitions filed against Poe because there are some issues about her that
made her have this case in running for president. Petitions were filed against Poe alleging
that
(1) she committed material misrepresentation in her COC when she stated that she is a
resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years 11 months up to the day before May 9,
2016 Elections,
(2) She is not natural born considering that Poe is a foundling and
(3) Grace Poes candidacy should be denied, rejected, or cancelled for committing
material misrepresentations in her Certificate of Candidacy.

The Issues Issue:

1: Grace Poe-Llamanzares is a natural-born Filipino citizen.
2: Grace Poe satisfies the 10-year residency requirement.
3: Grace Poes candidacy should be denied or cancelled for committing material
misrepresentations in her COC.

The Ruling Held:

1. Yes, Grace Poe might be and is considerably a natural-born Filipino. For that, she
satisfies one of the constitutional requirements that only natural-born Filipinos may
run for presidency.
First, there is a very high probability that Grace Poes parents are Filipinos. Grace
Poe's physical features are typical of Filipinos. As a matter of fact that she was
abandoned as an infant in a municipality where the population of the Philippines is
overwhelmingly Filipinos such that there would be more than 99% chance that a child
born in such province is a Filipino is also a circumstantial evidence of her parents
nationality. That high probability and the evidence on which it is based are admissible
under Rule 128, Section 4 of the Revised Rules on Evidence. To assume otherwise is
to accept the absurd, if not the virtually impossible, as the norm.
Second, by votes of 7-5, the Supreme Court pronounced and said that foundlings are
as a natural-born citizens. This is based on the finding that the deliberations of the
1934 Constitutional Convention manifests that the framers intended foundlings to be
covered by the enumeration. While the 1935 Constitutions enumeration is silent as to
foundlings, there is no restrictive language which would definitely exclude foundlings
either. Because of silence and ambiguity in the enumeration with respect to
foundlings, the Supreme Court felt the need to examine or test the intent of the
framers.
Third, that foundlings are automatically conferred with natural-born citizenship is
supported by treaties and the general principles of international law. Although the
Philippines is not a signatory to some of these treaties, it adheres to the customary
rule to presume foundlings as having born of the country in which the foundling is
found.
2. Yes. Grace Poe satisfied the requirements of animus manendi coupled with animus
revertendi in acquiring a new domicile. Grace Poes domicile had been timely
changed as of May 24, 2005, and not on July 18, 2006 when her application under RA
9225 was approved by the BI. COMELECs reliance on cases which decree that an
aliens stay in the country cannot be counted unless she acquires a permanent resident
visa or reacquires her Filipino citizenship is without merit. Such cases are different
from the circumstances in this case, in which Grace Poe presented an overwhelming
and somehow an accurate evidence of her actual stay and intent to abandon
permanently her domicile in the US. Coupled with her eventual application to
reacquire Philippine citizenship and her familys actual continuous stay in the
Philippines over the years, it is clear that when Grace Poe returned on May 24, 2005,
it was for good.
3. No. The COMELEC cannot cancel, deny or reject her Certificate of Candidacy on
the ground that she misrepresented facts as to her citizenship and residency because
such facts refer to grounds for ineligibility in which the COMELEC has no
jurisdiction to decide upon. Only when there is a prior authority finding that a
candidate is suffering from a disqualification provided by law or the Constitution that
the COMELEC may deny due course or cancel her candidacy on ground of false
representations regarding her qualifications. In this case, by authority of the Supreme
Court Grace Poe was pronounced qualified as a candidate for the presidency.
Hence, there cannot be any false representations in her COC regarding her citizenship
and residency.
Sources:http://barexamphil.com/grace-poe-vs-comelec/
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/11/1561940/full-text-supreme-court-
decision-grace-poe-vs-comelec