Maria Jannette C.

Tecson v COMELEC
GR No. 161434,161824, March 3, 2004, J. Vitug – Citizenship

CASE TYPE: Petition for review on certiorari assailing the COMELEC’s resolution dismissing petitioner’s petition
seeking for the disqualification of FPJ from running for President for the May 2004 elections.

FACTS: The Case at hand

 Dec. 31, 2003 – Respondent Ronald Allan Kelly Poe (FPJ) filed his certificate of candidacy for
President under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) Party for the May 2004
elections. In his COC, the following information were indicated:
o Name: Fernand Jr.
o “natural-born citizen”
o Place and date of birth: Manila, August 20, 1939

 Petitioner Victorinio X. Fornier initiated a petition before the COMELEC seeking for the
disqualification of FPJ on the following grounds:
o FPJ made a material representation in his COC by claiming to be natural-born citizen
because:
 His parents were foreigners
 Bessie Kelly Poe, his mother, was an American citizen
 Allan Poe, his father, was a Spanish national being the son of Lorenzo
Pou (FPJ’s grandfather), a Spanish subject
 Being an illegitimate child of an alien mother (Bessie Kelly), Allan Poe could
not have transmitted Filipino citizenship to FPJ

 COMELEC dismissed the petition for lack of merit. Hence this petition.

Development of concept of citizenship in the PH vis a vis history of FPJ’s lineage

Spanish Time 1870 – Lorenzo Pou was

born
 No such term as Philippine citizens
 Laws of Spain were not extended to the PH

Treaty of Paris (1898) – Cession of PH territory by Spain to US

 Native inhabitants of the territories were granted civil and political

rights
 Although they did not become American citizens, they however
ceased to be aliens under American laws

Philippine Bill of 1902 (Philippine Organic Act of 1902 (No evidence that Lorenzo
Pou changed domicile
 The term “citizens of the Philippines” appeared for the first time during this period. it
which means could be presumed that
o inhabitant of the Philippines he benefited from the en
o and a Spanish subject on April 11, 1899 masse Filipinization)
 The word inhabitant further means:
o Native-born inhabitant
o Inhabitant who was a native of Peninsular Spain
 o Inhabitant who obtained Spanish papers on or before
April 11, 1899

April 11, 1899 to July 1, 1902

 No citizenship law was extant in the PH

 Jus soli governed those born in the PH during this period

Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 (Jones Law)

 A native-born inhabitant was deemed citizen of the PH as April 11,

1899 if he was
o A subject of Spain on April 11, 1899
o Residing on the PH on said date
o Since that date, not a citizen of some other country

1935 Constitution July 5, 1936 –Allegedly,

Allan was married to
 Adopted jus sanguinis. Section 1(3) of Article III Paulita Gomez

“those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines” August 20, 1939 – FPJ was
born

1940 – Allan and Bessie

Kelly were married
making FPJ an illegitimate
child of Bessie Kelly

Sep. 1954 – Lorenzo Pou

died.
1973 Constitution

Same with 1935 Constitution.

1987 Constitution (Constitution in effect at

the time of FPJ’s filing of
“Natural born-citizens” is defined to include “those who are citizens of COC for President)
the PH from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or
perfect their PH citizenship.”

 During the course of the oral arguments and the evidence presented, only three documents were
given consideration with regards to their truthfulness: FPJ’s birth certificate, his parents’ marriage
certificate, and his grandfather’s death certificate. Using these three, the following facts were
deduced:
o FPJ’s grandfather, Lorenzo Poe is a Filipino citizen.
• His death certificate shows that he died in Pangasinan on September 11, 1984 at
the age of 84. This means that he must’ve been born in the year 1870, when the
Philippines was still a colony of Spain.
• In the absence of proof that he changed his place of residence during his lifetime, it
can be presumed that by virtue of the citizenship provisions provided by the
Philippine Bill of 1902 , he is a Filipino citizen
 o Because Lorenzo Pou is a Filipino citizen, it follows that Allan F. Poe is also a Filipino citizen.
o In the absence of any proof of a prior marriage, it is presumed that FPJ’s parents’ marriage
is valid.
o FPJ’s birth certificate shows that he was born on August 20, 1939 and his parents’
marriage was on September 16, 1940. This makes FPJ an illegitimate child.

 Petitioners allege that based on the rules provided by civil law 1 at that time, FPJ cannot be
considered a natural-born citizen.
 In the absence of a proof of acknowledgement from FPJ’s father, the court accepted a declaration
from Bessie Kelly’s sister proving that FPJ is acknowledged by his father.

ISSUE: 1. W/N FPJ is considered a natural-born citizen. YES

2. W/N his father, Allan F. Poe, is a Filipino citizen. YES
3. W/N the illegitimacy of the respondent prevents him from taking after the Filipino citizenship of
his putative father. NO

HELD:  Any conclusion on the Filipino citizenship of Lorenzo Pou could only be drawn from the
presumption that having died in 1954 at 84 years old, Lorenzo would have been born sometime in
the year 1870, when the Philippines was under Spanish rule, and that San Carlos, Pangasinan, his
place of residence upon his death in 1954, in the absence of any other evidence, could have well
been his place of residence before death, such that Lorenzo Pou would have benefited from the
"en masse Filipinization" that the Philippine bill had effected in 1902.
 That citizenship (of Lorenzo Pou), if acquired, would thereby extend to his son, Allan F. Poe,
father of respondent FPJ.
 The 1935 Constitution, during which regime respondent FPJ was born, confers citizenship to all
persons whose fathers are Filipino citizens regardless of whether such children are legitimate or
illegitimate.

DISPOSITIVE: Petition is dismissed.

Prepared by: Carl Cupay

1 The Civil Code dictates that time that in order to establish filiation or paternity for illegitimate children, there must be an
acknowledgement from the father.