Poe-Llamanzares vs COMELEC

GR. No. 221697, GR. Nos. 221698-700

Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe Dissenting Opinion
Justice Bernabe claimed that there was no grave abuse of discretion in the COMELECs
ruling that petitioner (Grace Poe) had made a false material representation in her 2015 Certificate
of Candidacy ( CoC) when she declared that she was a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.
Natural-born citizens, as defined in the Constitution, are those who are citizens of the
Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire of perfect their citizenship.
The Philippine law on citizenship adheres to the principle of jus sanguinis. Here, the child
follows the nationality or the citizenship of the parents regardless of the place of his/her birth.
Blood relation to a Filipino parent is therefore necessary to show that one is a Filipino citizen by
birth under this principle.
In the case at bar, there was no evidence whatsoever that would show blood relation to a
Filipino parent. While the petitioner initially did not bear the burden of proving that she made
false material representation on her 2015 CoC, that burden shifted to her when she admitted her
status as a foundling.
Without any proof of blood relation to a Filipino parent, and without any mention in the
constitution that foundlings are considered or are presumed to be Filipino citizens by birth, the
COMELECs ruling that a petitioner was not a natural-born citizen cannot be taken as patently
unreasonable and grossly baseless so as to amount to grave abuse of discretion.