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.
 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 them 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 thatshe 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.
 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.

Issue 2: Grace Poe satisfies the 10-year residency requirement.
Issue 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 Cerftificate 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