CASE NOTE
THE POE CASES: PREVENTING STATELESSNESS FOR
FOUNDLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES
DANTE GATMAYTAN*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Law ................................................................................................................ 309
Background ........................................................................................................... 310
Poe-Llamanzares v Commission on Elections ...................................................... 310
David v Senate Electoral Tribunal ........................................................................ 311
Comments ............................................................................................................. 312
Recent Developments ........................................................................................... 313
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 314
THE LAW
Philippine Senator, Grace Poe, is a foundling. Due to her status as a foundling, the
question of whether Senator Poe was a natural-born citizen was raised in the
Supreme Court of the Philippines (‘the Supreme Court’), as the Philippine
Constitution provides that only natural-born citizens may run for national
government offices.1 Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the
Republic of the Philippines (‘the Philippines’) from birth without having to perform
any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.2 Hence, the status of
Senator Poe’s citizenship was crucial in determining whether she could run for
national office.
The Supreme Court promulgated two decisions in her favour, both dealing, for
the first time, with the status of foundlings.
In Poe-Llamanzares v Commission on Elections,3 the Supreme Court, with a
9:6 vote, reversed the decision of the Commission on Elections (‘COMELEC’) to
*
1
Professor, University of the Philippines, College of Law.
See art VI, s 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (‘Philippine
Constitution’) which provides:
No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and, on the day
of the election, is at least thirty-five years of age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a
resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.
Cf art VII, s 2 which provides:
No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a
registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election and a
resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election.
2
ibid art IV, s 2 provides:
Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to
perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine
citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.
3
Poe-Llamanzares v Commission on Elections (Supreme Court of the Philippines, GR No
221697/221698-700, 8 March 2016) 782 Phil 292 (‘Poe-Llamanzares’).