Facts: A Disqualification case was filed against senator Grace Poe before the

Senate Electoral Tribunal on the ground that she is not a natural-born Filipino and
that she lacked the residency requirement when she ran for the Senate. However,
the SET, did not touch the residency issue and instead focused on the issue of
citizenship

Issue: Whether or not Senator Grace Poe should be disqualified from the Senate for
failing to meet the requirement under Section 3, Article VI of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution that requires a candidate to be a natural-born citizen.

Held:

The pertinent conventions in customary international law direct countries to

provide citizenship to foundlings with unknown parents, However, said
conventions does not direct countries on what kind of citizenship would be given
to a stateless person. Customary international law, while recognized as “part of the
law of the land” in our jurisdiction, does not stand on the same level as the
Constitution.

Our Constitution has reserved the status of a natural born citizen to those born of
Filipino parents and have not performed any act to acquire or perfect their
citizenship, hence the type of citizenship that can be given to foundlings and those
children with unknown parents is through naturalization, which is not contrary to
customary international law.

As the High Court has held, “It is thus incumbent upon a person who claims
Philippine citizenship to prove to the satisfaction of the Court that she is really a
Filipino. No presumption can be indulged in favor of the claimant of Philippine
citizenship, and any doubt regarding citizenship must be resolved in favor of the
State.” 

Therefore, it is humbly submitted that Grace Poe is a citizen of the Philippines

which she earned by virtue of naturalization.
nobody has asked me that question. But I have always known that adoption of a
child does not confer citizenship.
I specify “in the Philippines” because here we do not follow the principle of  jus 
soli, that is, a person is a citizen of his place of birth. The question is important for
all those who want to be president, vice president, senator or district representative
or party-list representative. We follow the principle of  jus  sanguinis, that is, a
person follows the citizenship of either Filipino blood parent. Our Constitution
says that anybody who wishes to be president, vice president, senator or district
representative must be a natural-born Filipino citizen. The Constitution defines
natural-born Filipino citizens as those “who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine
citizenship.” For the purpose of determining citizenship, therefore, the identity of
the blood parents is important.
The only exception from this definition is the case of one who was born of a
Filipino mother and an alien father under the 1935 Constitution but reached
majority age under the 1973 Constitution. Such a person, upon reaching majority,
may elect Philippine citizenship and he is deemed to be a natural-born Filipino
citizen.
Moreover, a natural-born Filipino who has lost his Filipino citizenship by
acquiring foreign citizenship can regain his or her natural-born citizenship by
following the requirements of the Dual Citizenship Law. Jurisprudence says that
such a person is deemed never to have lost his or her natural-born citizenship.
Under the 1987 Constitution the rule now is: “Citizens of the Philippines who
marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are
deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.” Thus, a woman, by the mere fact
that she falls in love with and marries an alien, does not lose her Filipino
citizenship.
But may one who has regained Filipino citizenship under the Dual Citizenship Law
run for public office? Yes, but there is a hitch: “Those seeking elective public
office in the Philippines … [must] at the time of the filing of the certificate of
candidacy, make a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign
citizenship …”  The form for filing a certificate of candidacy by itself contains an
oath of allegiance to the Philippines; but it does not contain a renunciation of
foreign citizenship. Such renunciation has to be specifically added.
The latest on this, from a sharply divided Supreme Court, is that, even if one has
renounced foreign citizenship, if he continues to use a foreign passport, he
equivalently withdraws his renunciation.
An Inquirer news report said the high court, voting 8-4, upheld the Commission on
Elections’ 2013 resolution disqualifying Mayor Rommel Arnado of Kauswagan,
Lanao del Norte. Arnado had won reelection by a landslide despite questions about
his citizenship dating to 2010, when he first ran for mayor. He was found to be “a
candidate without an undivided allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.”
“Undivided” is the operative word, with emphasis on the “un”. The mayor did not
have that. Despite having renounced his acquired US citizenship and sworn to
again become Filipino in order to run for an elective office, he still used his US
passport. He was found out, and got the boot.
So dual citizens with two passports, be warned. You can’t have your cake and eat
it, too. The Comelec’s certificate of candidacy (COC) form now asks if the
candidate has dual citizenship and has renounced the foreign one. Comelec
spokesperson James Jimenez said the requirement had always been there. Now, by
asking questions about citizenship in the COC, a candidate would at least be
reminded to first put his/her status in order, or not to lie. The candidate cannot
feign ignorance.
If you want to remain citizens of two countries in order to enjoy the benefits and
the convenience, it is best that you do not run for an elective office, not even for
mayor or for barangay chair. This is not discrimination, or saying that you do not
love the Philippines, the land of your birth. This is saying that because you have
dual citizenship, you are loyal to two countries. In fact, you are expected to be so
because you swore to be so.
I’d like to think that foundlings found in the Philippines are natural-born citizens
and should be allowed to run for elective office. But my issue with those who had
renounced their Philippine citizenship and later reacquired it in order to run in the
elections is allegiance or loyalty.
Is Poe, with her American brood, with or without undivided allegiance to the
Philippines? Is she, with her American brood, with or without divided allegiance to
this country?