BELEN, Angelica Joyce M.

JD 1A Introduction to Law

POE-LLAMANZARES vs. COMELEC

G.R. No. 221697
March 8, 2016
PEREZ, J.:

Facts:

Petitioner Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares (Poe) was born and registered
as a foundling with the Office of the Civil Registrar of Iloilo City. When she turned five years
old, she was adopted and a new birth certificate was issued by the OCR-Iloilo. On 1991,
petitioner married Teodoro Misael Daniel V. Llamanzares (Llamanzares), a citizen of both
the Philippines and the U.S. She immigrated to the US and was naturalized as an American
Citizen in 2001. On December 2004, Poes father died which made her decide to stay with
her grieving mother and reside permanently in the Philippines. She has been going to and
fro between U.S. and the Philippines for the preparation of their settlement. On 7 July 2006,
Poe took her Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines pursuant to Republic Act
No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 and was decided
favorably on Poe and her children's citizenship as Filipino on July 18, 2006. She registered
as a voter and obtained a new passport. In 2010, before assuming her post as an appointed
chairperson of the MTRCB, she executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of Allegiance to the
US. From then on, she stopped using her American passport. She was issued a Certificate of
Loss of Nationality of the US by the U.S. Vice Consul on October 2010.

On October 2012, Poe filed her Candidacy for Senator claiming that she was a
resident of the Philippines for 6 years and 6 months. She was then proclaimed Senator on
May 16, 2013. On October 2015, Poe filed her Certificate of Candidacy for Presidency for
the 2016 elections. She declared that she is a natural-born citizen and that her residence in
the Philippines would be 10 years and 11 months. Petitions were filed before the COMELEC
to deny or cancel her candidacy on the ground that she cannot be considered a natural-
born Filipino citizen considering she is a foundling; and she committed material
misrepresentation in her COC in connection with the period of her residency. Opposing
petitioners also alleged that if it is assumed that Poe was a natural-born citizen, she had
lost it when she acquire US citizenship; Poes repatriation under R.A. 9225 did not bestow
upon her the status needed as it only acquires the citizenship and not the original status as
natural-born citizen; and international conventions regarding the citizenship of a foundling
is not self-executory and hence, local legislations are necessary to give effect to obligations
assumed by the Philippines.

Poe contended that such grounds invoked by petitioners were not proper ground
for disqualification; her appointment as MTRCB Chairman and the issuance of decree of
adoption reinforced her status of a natural-born citizen and raised that she had established
her domicile of choice even before she renounced her American citizenship and her period
of residency stated in her COC was a mistake in good faith. COMELEC First and Second
BELEN, Angelica Joyce M. JD 1A Introduction to Law

Division granted the petition to Cancel Certificate of Candidacy for President of Poe and
concluded that she is not qualified foe said elective position.

Issue:

Whether or not Poe is eligible to run as President.

Held:

Yes, Poe is declared to be eligible and qualified to be a candidate for President.

The Constitution requires presidential candidates to be one who is a natural-born

citizen of the Philippines and who has 10-year residency in the Philippines before the day
of the elections. On the first requisite in question, Poe is considered a natural-born Filipino
citizen. On the fact that she is a foundling, under 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 International Conventions bind the Philippines although
Philippines is not a signatory thereof on the ground that Philippines is a signatory to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms such conventions. Hence, a foundling
is a natural-born citizen.

There is also sufficient evidence admissible to prove that Poe has Filipino parents
and is therefore a natural-born citizen due to the high probability that her parents are
Filipinos, she has typical Filipino features and was abandoned in a Catholic Church. On the
ground of reacquisition of natural-born citizenship from Poes repatriation, it was stated in
Bengson Ill v. HRET (409 Phil. 633, 649) that a natural born citizen before he lost his
Philippine nationality will be restored to his former status as natural-born Filipino after
repatriation. It is also ruled that there is no category for repatriated citizens and
repatriation will neither perfect a persons citizenship. Hence, COMELEC acted with grave
abuse of discretion in reversing a judicial precedent. Thus, Poe is a natural-born citizen of
the Philippines.

On the second requisite in question, Poe had sufficiently complied to the have 10
years of residence in the Philippines before the election. Poe has acquired a new domicile
complying with the three requisites: residence, intention to remain (animus manendi) and
the intention to abandon the old domicile. Poe presented evidence that she and her family
relocated to the Philippines permanently from the shipment of her items from the U.S.,
school records of her children, and her passport showing her arrival to the Philippines
proving that she resided in the Philippines as early as May 24, 2005 and not on July 18,
2006 whem she applied reacquisition. Cases in which residence was counted only from the
acquisition of permanent residence were decided only because of lack of evidence on
establishment of residence. It cannot be applied in Poes case wherein she had enough
evidence to prove that she permanently abandon her U.S. residence and reside in the
Philippines together with her reacquisition of Philippine citizenship. COMELEC failed to
take these into consideration hence its decision is tainted with grave abuse of discretion.
Thus, Poe is a resident of the Philippines for 10 years before said election.
BELEN, Angelica Joyce M. JD 1A Introduction to Law

Poe also admitted to her statement in her COC in 2012 as to her citizenship and
residency. 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. The decision of COMELEC was then annulled. Poe is thus declared eligible as
a candidate for the presidency.