POE-LLAMANZARES VS.
COMELEC
March 8, 2016 | Perez, J.| Citizenship
PETITIONER: Grace Poe-Llamanzares
RESPONDENTS: COMELEC, Tatad, Contreras, Valdez
SUMMARY: Several petitioners assailed the candidacy of Poe arguing that she is
not qualified because she is not a natural-born Filipino citizen and she did not meet
the 10-year residency requirement. Grace Poe is now assailing the COMELEC
resolutions, which declared Poe ineligible for the presidential elections. On the issue
of citizenship, the SC ruled that: (1) Her filiation to Filipino parents is demonstrable;
(2) As a matter of law, foundlings are, as a class, natural-born citizens; (3) While the
1935 Constitution's enumeration is silent as to foundlings, deliberations show that
the framers intended to include foundlings but decided that it is not necessary to
expressly state it in the Consti since there are only few cases of foundlings; (4)
Domestic laws on adoption also support the principle that foundlings are Filipinos.
When adoption laws talk about "Filipino children" for adoption, foundlings were
included; amd (5) Foundling are citizens under international law.
DOCTRINE: See summary box and issue #2
FACTS:
1. In 1968, Poe was found abandoned in a church in Iloilo. She was rasied by
Emiliano and his wife. They registered her as a foundling with the Office
of the Civil Registrar and Certificate of Live Birth. When Poe was 5
years old, she was adopted by FPJ and wife. Later on, she was able to get a
voter’s ID and Philippine passport. She studied in UP but moved to Boston
College.
2. In 1991, Poe married Teodoro Llamanzares, a dual citizen of both the
Philippines and United States, in San Juan. 2 days later, they went back to
the US. Long story short, Poe went back and forth from PH to US numerous
times.
3. In 2001, Poe became a naturalized American citizen. In 2004, her father
died and she wanted to return to the Philippines to stay with her grieving
mother. On May 24, 2005, she finally came back to the Philippines.
4. They began preparing for their resettlement:
- notified children's schools about children's transfer to PH schools
-relocated their household goods from US to PH
-inquired PH authorities about procedure for bringing in their pet dog
-bought a condo where the family resided temporarily but they eventually
bought a house
-got a Tax Identification Number from BIR
5. To re-acquire her citizenship, Grace did the ff:
- took her Oath of Allegiance, pursuant to RA 9225 (Citizenship Retention
and Re-acquisition Act of 2003)
-filed with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) a sworn petition to reacquire PH
citizenship together with petitions for derivative citizenship for the children. BI
issued the Identification Certificates
6. Pres. Aquino appointed Grace as MTRCB Chairperson. Before assuming her post,
Grace executed an "Affidavit of Renunciation of Allegiance to the United States of
America and Renunciation of American Citizenship" before a notary public.
7. Grace executed before the Vice Consul of the U.S. Embassy in Manila an
"Oath/Affirmation of Renunciation of Nationality of the United States." She
accomplished a sworn questionnaire before the US Vice Consul stating, among
others, her intent to relinquish her American citizenship.
8. US Vice Consul issued to Grace a "Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United
States" effective 21 October 2010.
9. Grace filed her COC for senator for the 2013 elections. She won
15. In 2015, Grace filed her COC for presidency for the May 2016 election. In her
COC, she declared that she is a natural-born citizen.
10. In October 15, 2015, she filed her certificate of candidacy for President and said
she was a resident for 10 years and 11 months. The day after, petitions were filed in
COMELEC to deny due course or cancel her certificate of candidacy because she
was not a natural-born Filipino and/or did not meet the 10 year residency
requirement. The petitions claim foundlings are not natural born Filipinos, and that
she was barred by her admission in #5 and so was a few months short of the 10 year
requirement.
11. COMELEC disqualified her from running for President. The current case is a
consolidation of 2 petitions assailing COMELEC’s resolution.
12. Summary of petitioners’ arguments [on citizenship] asking for cancellation of
COC:
-Foundlings can't be natural-born citizens. International Law does
not confer natural-born status and Filipino citizenship on foundlings
-since PH adheres to principle of jus sanguinis, persons of
unknown parentage, particularly foundlings, cannot be considered natural-
born Filipino citizens since blood relationship is determinative of natural-
born status.
-the fact that foundlings were not expressly included in the
categories of citizens in the 1935 Constitution is indicative of the framers'
intent to exclude them.
GOHOC
 -Grace can't seek refuge in international laws because these are not
self-executory
-Assuming that Grace is a natural-born citizen, she lost this status
when she became a US citizen. Repatriation does not restore her status to
natural-born citizen.
-Poe cannot avail of the option to reacquire Philippine citizenship
under R.A. No. 9225 because it only applies to former natural-born citizens
and petitioner was not as she was a foundling
FIRST ISSUE: Does COMELEC have jurisdiction to decide on the qualifications of
Grace? – NO
1. COMELEC commited grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction.
COMELEC can only rule on the issue of w/n Grace's COC should be cancelled on
the ground of false material representation, not on the issue of w/n Grace is qualified
to run for presidency. While the Consti states that only the SC, sitting en banc, shall
be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of
the President or Vice-President, there is no similar proceeding for questioning the
qualification of candidates for Presidency and Vice Presidency. The facts of
qualification must beforehand be established before an authority properly vested
with jurisdiction in a prior proceeding. The prior determination of qualification may
be by statute, by executive order or by a judgment of a competent court or tribunal.
SECOND ISSUE [IMPORTANT]: Is Poe a natural-born Filipino citizen? – YES.
1. First, there is more than sufficient evidence. Poe was able to show statistics
from the year she was born in the Philippines as a whole and in Iloilo alone,
and the statistical probability that any child born was a natural-born Filipino
ranged from 99.53% to 99.83%.
Other circumstantial evidence: She was left in a roman catholic church, she
has the facial features of a Filipino – height, flat nose (LOL), straight black
hair, almond eyes and oval face. These more than meet the rules on
evidence. To assume otherwise is to accept the absurd.
2. Second, it is contrary to common sense for foreigners to come to the
Philippines to get pregnant and leave their new born babies behind.
Filipinos are more likely to abandon their children out of poverty or shame.
To deny foundlings citizenship is discriminatory, irrational and unjust.
3. Third, foundlings are as a class, natural-born citizens. Though the
constitution is silent as to foundlings, the intent of the framers during the
constitutional convetion shows that, “to all kinds of illegitimate children, it
also includes natural children of unknown parentage”.
There was no need to expressly declare foundlings as Filipinos. By
international law, children born of unknown parents are citizens of the
country in which they are found. The Constitution no longer included this to
avoid redundancy. The Constitution does not discrimate against foundlings.
It also guarantees equal protection of the laws.
4. Fourth, expanding on generally accepted principles of international law, the
SC cites the Universal Declatation on Human Rights, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child, which more or less state that children have the right to
nationality.
The fact that the Philippines is not a party to the Hague Convention or the
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, does not mean that their
principles are not binding. At least 60 countries in Asia, 42 of which follow
jus sanguinis like the Philippines, have passed legislation recognizing
foundlings as its citizens.
5. Fifth, even the SC’s AM 02-6-02 aka “Rules on Adoption” expressly states
that Filipino children include foundlings.
6. Sixth, it has been argued that foundlings are not natural-born citizens
because they have to perform a process of perfecting their citizenship when
they acquire a foundling certificate.
The SC clarifies. “To perfect citizensip” means an act done by the
citizen himself. In this case, the determination of foundling status is not
done by the child, but by the authorities. Also, the object of the process is
the determination of the whereabouts of the parents, not the citizenship of
the child.
7. Seventh, it has been argued that even if foundlings are natural-born
Filipinos, Poe lost it when she became a naturalized American citizen. Even
when she reacquired her Filipino citizenship, she was no longer a natural-
born Filipino.
The SC said this is wrong. There is much jurisprudence on the matter. In
Bengzon v. HRET, the SC explained that repatriation results in the
recovery of the original nationality.
8. In sum, COMELEC cannot dictate that foundlings are not Filipinos, neither
can it reverse a judicial precedent. Grace Poe is a natural-born Filipino.
SECOND ISSUE: Did Poe meet the 10-year residency requirement? – YES.
1. The SC first clarifies. Since the elections are going to be held on May 9,
2016, Poe must show that she has been a resident of the Philippines on
GOHOC
 May 9, 2006 at the latest. intent to treat balikayans as temporary visitors who must leave after one
year. The visa-free entry period is obviously intended to allow a balikbayan
2. Requisites to acquire a new domicile: to reestablish his life and reintegrate himself into the community before
attending to the legal requirements of repatriation. That is exactly what Poe
a. Bodily presence in a new locality did.
b. Intention to remain there
c. Intention to abandon the old domicile 6. Poe is also not bound to her declaration on her certidicate of candidacy for
senator. It has been proven that she misunderstood the date required, and
COMELEC said she did not have the 3rd requirement and that fact #4 shows was later advised by her lawyers in 2015 that she could count her residency
that she only took her oath to the PH on July 7, 2006. period from May 25, 2005, the day after her arrival.

3. SC said Poe was able to present voluminous evidence showing that she She cannot be said to have acted in bad faith. She also cannot be said to
intended to abandon their US domicile: have hidden anything. In fact, as soon as Poe found out, she filed a petition
to correct the entry and also admitted that she misunderstood the question.
a. U.S. passport showing her arrival on May 24, 2005
b. E-mail correspondences starting in March 2005 to September 2006 7. In sum, COMELEC arbitrarily ignored the amount of evidence presented
with a freight company to arrange for the shipment of their before it. Grace Poe has satisfied the 10 year residency requirement.
household items weighing about 28,000 pounds to the Philippines
c. E-mail with the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry inquiring RULING: Petition granted.
how to ship their dog to the Philippines (awww )
d. School records of her children showing enrollment in Philippine
schools starting June 2005 and for succeeding years
e. Acquired Condo in San Juan in the latter half of 2005 while their
house in Corinthians was being completed.
f. Tax identification card for petitioner issued on July 2005
g. Receipts dated February 23 2005 from the Salvation Army in the
U.S. acknowledging donation of items from petitioner's family
h. March 2006 e-mail to the U.S. Postal Service confirming request
for change of address
i. Final statement from the First American Title Insurance Company
showing sale of their US home on April 27, 2006
j. Filled-up questionnaire submitted to the U.S. Embassy where Poe
indicated that she had been a Philippine resident since May 2005
k. … many others all dated before May 9, 2006 (10 years before 2016
elections)

4. The court notes that it previously held in several cases that alien former
Filipinos cannot be counted until they obtain permanent resident visas or
reacquire Philippine citizenship. However, it states that those cases are
unlike the present case. The previous cases had sparse evidence. In this
case, there is overwhelming evidence that leads to no other conclusion that
Poe decided to permanently abandon her US residence.

5. The court also notes that COMELEC took it against Poe that she entered the
Philippines visa-free as a balikbayan. Upon a closer inspection of RA 6768
aka “An Act Institutin a Balikbayan Program”, it shows that there is no
GOHOC