TECSON V.

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS
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FACTS
- On December 31, 2003, FPJ filed his certificate of candidacy for the position of President of the Philippines under the Koalisyon ng
Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP).
- In his certificate of candidacy, FPJ represented himself to be a natural-born citizen.
- His real name was stated to be Fernando, Jr. or Ronald Allan Poe, born in Manila on August 20, 1939.
- On January 9, 2004, Victorino X. Fornier filed a petition before the COMELEC to disqualify FPJ and to deny due course or to cancel
his certificate of candidacy on the ground that FPJ made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy by claiming to
be a natural-born Filipino citizen.
- According to Fornier, FPJs parents were foreigners his mother Bessie Kelley Poe was an American and his father Allan F. Poe
was a Spanish national being a son of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject.
- Even if Allan F. Poe was a Filipino citizen, he could not have transmitted his Filipino citizenship to FPJ because FPJ was
illegitimate.
- Allan F. Poe contracted a prior marriage to a certain Paulita Gomez before marrying Bessie Kelley according to an uncertified copy of a
supposed certification of the marriage in July 5, 1936.
- Even if no such prior marriage existed, Allan F. Poe married Bessey Kelley only a year after the birth of FPJ. The marriage certificate of their
marriage reflected the date of their marriage to be on September 16, 1940 where Allan was 25, unmarried and Filipino, and Bessie was 22,
unmarried and American.
- FPJs earliest established ascendant was his grandfather Lorenzo Pou.
- No birth certificate for Lorenzo but his death certificate issued upon his death in September 11, 1954 at age 84 identified him as a Filipino
residing in San Carlos, Pangasinan.
- Lorenzo married Marta Reyes and their son Allan was born on May 17, 1915. The birth certificate of Allan showed that his father was an
Espaol father and to a mestiza Espaol mother.
Procedure
- In the January 19, 2004 hearing before the COMELEC, Fornier presented the following pieces of evidence:
- Copy of the certificate of birth of FPJ
- Certified photocopy of an affidavit by Paulita Gomez-Poe attesting that she had filed a bigamy case against Allan F. Poe because of his
relationship with Kelley (in Spanish)
English translation of (b)
- Certified copy of the certificate of birth of Allan F. Poe
- Certification from the director of the Records Management and Archives Office stating that a Lorenzo Poe/Pou resided in the Philippines
before 1907
- Certification from OIC of the Archives Division of the National Archives stating that there was no available information regarding the birth of
Allan F. Poe
- FPJ presented the following pieces of evidence among others:
- Certification that there was no available information regarding the birth of Allan F. Poe in the registry of births for San Carlos, Pangasinan
- Certification by the OIC of the Archives Division of the National Archives that there was no available information about the marriage of Allan F.
Poe and Paulita Gomez
- Certificate of birth of Ronald Allan F. Poe
- Original Certificate of Title if the Registry Deeds of Pangasinan in the name of Lorenzo Pou,
- Copies of tax declarations under the name of Lorenzo Pou
- Copy of certificate of death of Lorenzo Pou
- Copy of marriage contract of Fernando Pou and Bessie Kelley
- Certification issued by the City Civil Registrar of San Carlos, Pangasinan stating that the records of the birth of the said office from 1900 to
May 1946 were destroyed during World War II
- January 23, 2004 COMELEC dismissed the Fornier petition for lack of merit and Fornier filed a motion for reconsideration on January 26,
2004. The motion was denied by the COMELEC en banc on February 6, 2004.
- February 10, 2004 Fornier filed a petition before the Supreme Court, praying for TRO, a writ of preliminary injunction or any other
resolution that would stay the finality and/or execution of the COMELEC resolutions.
- The two other petitions (Tecson and Desidero v. COMELEC and Velez v. Poe) challenge the jurisdiction of the COMELEC and assert
that only the Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve the basic issue on the case.
ISSUES
1. Does the Court have jurisdiction over the three cases filed?
2. Can FPJ be disqualified as a presidential candidate on the ground that he materially misrepresented in his certificate of candidacy that he
was a natural-born Filipino?
HELD
1. Ratio Jurisdiction issue
- The COMELECs decision on disqualified cases involving a presidential candidate could be elevated to and could be taken
cognizance by the Supreme Court.
- The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court would not include cases directly brought before it questioning the qualifications of a candidate for the
presidency or vice-presidency before the elections are held.
Reasoning
- Does the Court have jurisdiction over the three cases filed?
- Fornier petition - Yes
- In seeking the disqualification of FPJ before the COMELEC, Fornier relied on the following:
- A verified petition seeking to deny due course or to cancel a certificate of candidacy may be filed by any person exclusively on the ground
that any material representation contained therein as required under Section 74 is false (Omnibus Election Code, Sec. 78)
- the Commission shall have exclusive charge of the enforcement and administration of all laws relative to the conduct of elections for the
purpose of enduring free, orderly and honest elections (Sec. 52, same)
- any interested party authorized to file a verified petition to deny or cancel the certificate of candidacy of any nuisance candidate (Art. 69,
same)

- Decisions of the COMELEC on disqualification cases may be reviewed by the Supreme Court under the Revised Rules of Civil
Procedure (Rule 65). Aside from that, according to Art. 9, Sec. 7 of the Constitution, any decision, order or ruling of each Commission may
be brought to the Supreme Court on certiorari by the aggrieved party within thirty days from receipt thereof.
- Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court which includes the duty of the courts to settle actual controversies involving rights
which are legally demandable and enforceable and to determine whether or not there has been grave abuse of discretion amounting
to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch of instrumentality of the government. (Art. 8, Sec. 1, Constitution).
- Tecson petition and Velez petition - No
- The Tecson and Velez petitions make use of Art. 7, Sec 4(7) of the Constitution in assailing the COMELECs jurisdiction when it took
cognizance of the Fornier petition because the Supreme Court sitting en banc shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election,
returns and qualifications of the President or Vice President and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.
2. Ratio FPJs citizenship issue
- The distinctions between legitimacy and illegitimacy should only remain in the sphere of civil law and should not unduly impinge
on the domain of political law.
- The 1935 Constitution confers citizenship to all persons whose fathers are Filipino regardless of whether such children are legitimate of
illegitimate.
Reasoning
- Can FPJ be disqualified as a presidential candidate on the ground that he materially misrepresented in his certificate of candidacy
that he was a natural-born Filipino?
- Concept of citizenship
- Aristotle described a citizen as a man who shared in the administration of justice and in the holding of an office and the state would be
composed of such individuals in order to achieve a self-sufficient existence.
- Citizenship deals with rights and entitlements on the one hand and with concomitant obligations on the other.
- In the 18th century, the concept was civil citizenship which established the rights necessary for necessary for individual freedom
- In the 19th century, it expanded to include political citizenship which encompassed the right to participate in the exercise of political power.
- In the 20th century, there was the development of social citizenship which laid emphasis on the right of the citizen to economic well-being and
social security.
- Citizenship in the Philippines from the Spanish times to the present
- During the Spanish period, no such term as Philippine citizens, only Spanish subjects. In church records, natives were identified
as indios.
- Children of a Spanish father or mother even if they were born outside Spain
- Foreigners who have obtained naturalization papers
- Those who, without such papers, may have become domiciled inhabitants of any town of the Monarchy
- Article 10 of the Treaty of Paris stated that the civil and political status of the native inhabitants would be determined by the US
Congress. Spanish subjects and natives who choose to remain in the territory may preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain by making
a declaration of their decision within a year from the date of the ratification of the treaty. If no such declaration is made, their allegiance shall
be held renounced and they would have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they reside.
- Upon ratification of the treaty, the native inhabitants of the Philippines became Spanish subjects.
- They did not become American citizens but were issued passports describing them to be citizens of the Philippines entitled to protection of
the US.
- Philippine Organic Act of 1902 first appearance of the term citizens of the Philippine islands. A citizen of the Philippine islands under this
Act was:
- An inhabitant of the Philippines and a Spanish subject on April 11, 1899.
- An inhabitant meant:
- A native born inhabitant
- An inhabitant who was a native of Spain
- An inhabitant who obtained Spanish papers on or before April 11, 1899.
- Controversy as to the citizenship of a child born between April 11, 1899 and July 1, 1902 as there was no citizenship law in the
Philippines. The common law principle jus soli (principle of territoriality) was said to govern those born in the Philippines during this time.
- Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Law) A native born inhabitant of the Philippines was deemed to be a citizen of the Philippines as of April 11,
1899 if:
- A Spanish subject on April 11, 1899
- Residing in the Philippines on the said date
- Since that date, not a citizen of another country
- 1935 Constitution provided that jus sanguinis (blood relationship) be the basis for citizenship, as stated in Sec. 1, Art. 3:
- Those who are citizens of the Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of the Constitution
- Those born in the Philippine Islands of foreign parents who, before the adoption of this Constitution, had been elected to public office in the
Philippine Islands
- Those whose fathers are citizens of the Philippines
- Those whose mothers are citizens of the Philippines and upon reaching the age of majority, elect Philippine citizenship
- Those who are naturalized in accordance with law
- 1973 Constitution Corrected Sec. 1, Art. 3 (4) of the 1935 Constitution, which, when taken together with the existing civil law provisions
would provide that women would automatically lose their Filipino citizenship and acquire that of their foreign husbands. This was deemed
discriminatory in that it incapacitated the Filipino woman from transmitting her citizenship to her legitimate children and required illegitimate
children of Filipino mothers to still elect Filipino citizenship upon reaching the age of majority. The provisions of Sec. 1, Art. 3 of the 1973
Constitution state that the following are citizens of the Philippines:
- Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution
- Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines
- Those who elect Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of the 1935 Constitution
- Those who are naturalized in accordance with law
- Add Sec. 2 of the same article which provided that a female citizen of the Philippines who marries an alien retainers her Philippine citizenship
unless by her act or omission she is deemed to have renounced her citizenship under the law.
- 1987 Constitution aimed to correct the irregular situation generated by the questionable proviso in the 1935 Constitution which outlines in
Article 4, Sec. 1 that the following are Filipino citizens:

- Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution
- Those whose fathers and mothers are citizens of the Philippines
- Those born before January 17, 1973 of Filipino mothers who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority
- Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
- The Constitution requires that the President of the Philippines should be, among the many requirements, a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines (Art. 7, Sec. 2).
- Natural born citizen citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship
- Citizenship of FPJ in relation to grandfather Lorenzo Pous citizenship and father Allan F. Poes citizenship
- Allan F. Poe was a Filipino citizen because his father Lorenzo was also Filipino.
- Conclusions with some degree of certainty to be drawn from the documents presented:
- The parents of FPJ were Allen Poe and Bessie Kelley.
- FPJ was born to them on August 20, 1939.
- Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley were married to each other on September 16, 1940.
- The father of Allan F. Poe was Lorenzo Pou.
- At the time of his death on September 11, 1954, Lorenzo Poe was 84 years old.
- The public documents submitted are deemed trustworthy.
- The three documents (birth certificate of FPJ, marriage certificate of Bessie and Allan and the death certificate of Lorenzo) were certified true
copies of the originals.
- The Rules of Court (130, Section 3) state that when the subject of the inquiry is the content of the document, no evidence shall be admissible
except the original document itself. One of the exceptions however is when the original is a public record in the custody of a public office is
recorded in a public office.
- As public documents, the three documents are prima facie proof of their contents as stated in the Rules of Court (130, Section 44) that the
entries in official records made by a public officer in the performance of his duty are prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. This is
grounded on: of official duty in the preparation of the statement made. The penalty affixed to a breach of that duty. Routine and disinterested
origin of most such statements. Publicity of the record which makes more likely the prior exposure of such errors as might have occurred
- It is safe to assume that Lorenzo Pous place of residence at the time of death was the same as his residence before death in the absence of
evidence that would attest otherwise. In that case, Lorenzo Pou would have benefited from the en masse Filipinization that the Philippine Bill
effected in 1902. This citizenship would then extend to his son Allan F. Poe, FPJs father.
- Lorenzo born sometime in 1870 during the Spanish colonization period.
- Fornier argues that Lorenzo was not in the Philippines during the crucial period of 1898 to 1902 but there is no existing record to attest to that
claim.
- Fornier failed to show that Lorenzo was out of the country during that same time period.
- Lorenzos residence at the time of death was in San Carlos, Pangasinan.
- For proof of filiation or paternity, the mandatory rules of civil law would not apply in this case. The duly notarized declaration by Ruby Kelley
Mangahas, FPJs maternal aunt and sister of his mother Bessie, proving the acts of Allan F. Poe, recognizing his own paternal relationship with
FPJ (living with Bessie and the children in one house as one family) would be accepted.
- Fornier argues that the mandatory rules under civil rule should apply because FPJ was an illegitimate son.
- Acknowledgement needed to establish paternity (eg. Acknowledgement in the birth certificate by signing name)
- In the FPJ case, there was no signature of Allan F. Poe in the birth certificate of FPJ.
- 1950 Civil Code acknowledgement of illegitimate children of three types which had to be done during the lifetime of the presumed parent:
- Voluntary (expressly made in record birth, will or a statement before the court in authentic writing)
- Legal (in favor of full blood brothers and sisters of an illegitimate child who was recognized as natural)
- Compulsory (demanded generally in cases when the child had in his favor any evidence to prove filiation)
- The Family Code has liberalized the rules as stated in Articles 172, 173 and 175 and the rules have retroactive effect (Article 255). These
provisions are there to govern the private and personal affairs of the family. There is little indication that this should also govern his political
rights.
- This should be taken in the context of civil law, being that branch of law which is concerned with the organization of the family and regulation
of property. The relevance of citizenship is exemplified in Art. 15 of the Civil Code.
- The proof of filiation for purposes of determining citizenship status should be deemed independent from those prescribed for civil code
purposes. The ordinary rules should govern.
- DNA testing to prove paternity could also be resorted to.
- There is no jurisprudence to prove that an illegitimate child cannot inherit his fathers citizenship.
- Fornier argues that even if Allan F. Poe were Filipino, Allans citizenship would not have been transmitted to FPJ because FPJ was
illegitimate.
- FPJ was alleged to be illegitimate because of the bigamous marriage between his parents Allan and Bessie for the reason that Allan allegedly
had a prior existing marriage to a certain Paulita Gomez. The Court held that the veracity of this marriage between Paulita and Allan is
doubtful.
- Fornier also contended that even if Allan and Bessies marriage was not bigamous, FPJ was still illegitimate because his parents were
married after he was born. Fornier based his arguments on the cases of Morano v. Vivo, Chiongbian v. de Leon and Serra v. Republic.
- In the cases cited above, it is important to note the lis mota in each case. If the pronouncement of jus sangunis was in the lis mota, it would
constitute doctrine courtesy of stare decisis. If not, it is mere obiter dictum.
- In all of the mentioned cases, there was no jus sanguinis in the lis mota of the cases. If there was jus sangunis mentioned, it was mere obiter
dictum.
- The pronouncement that an illegitimate child cannot inherit the fathers citizenship has no textual basis in the Constitution and violates the
equal protection clause.
- For jurisprudence that regarded an illegitimate child to inherit the mothers citizenship, it was there to ensure a Filipino nationality for the child
with the assumption that the mother would gain custody.
- The 1935 Constitution applies to FPJ since he was born during that time period and it states that Filipino citizens include those whose fathers
are citizens of the Philippines.
Decision
1. The evidence does not establish conclusively FPJs citizenship but the evidence preponderates in his favor to hold that he could
not be guilty of misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy. Fornier v. COMELEC DISMISSED for failure to show grave abuse of
discretion on the part of the COMELEC for dismissing the original petition.
2. Tecson v. COMELEC and Velez v, Poe DISMISSED for want of jurisdiction.