Poe lawyer: Grace can be presumed natural-born like FPJ's grandfather

The counsel of Senator Grace Poe cited the citizenship case of her late father Fernando Poe Jr. during Tuesday's oral arguments at the Supreme Court on her petition to reverse the Commission on Elections' cancellation of her candidacy for the 2016 elections.

Responding to questions from Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro about presumptions of Poe's natural-born status as a foundling, lawyer Alexander Poblador argued that presumptions in the FPJ case allowed the actor to establish his natural-born status.

"Fernando Poe, Jr. was presumed to be natural-born because his grandfather, Lorenzo Poe, was presumed to have lived in the Philippines in 1899 and was therefore subject of the Filipinization process in the Philippine bill of 1902. What is the basis of that presumption? Only a death certificate which showed he died in the Philippines," said Poblador.

"So natural-born citizenship for Fernando Poe Jr. and his father Allan Poe was based on a presumption of natural-born citizenship accorded to Lorenzo Poe," he added.

The elder Poe ran for president in 2004, but not before hurdling questions about his being a natural-born citizen before the Supreme Court. Senator Poe has also faced challenges to her bid in the 2016 presidential race, with questions about her being a natural-born citizen raised because she is a foundling.

The senator has turned to the 1930 Hague Convention and the 1962 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness to establish that she is a natural-born Filipino.

De Castro said that unlike in the FPJ case, the international law that Poblador is invoking to presume that the senator is a natural-born citizen is "disputable."

"There is marked difference between the jurisprudence you are citing and the provision of international law that you are invoking," she said.

TV campaign

The Poe campaign has played up the parallels between the two disqualification cases, even releasing a television advertisement harping on it.

In the ad, four neighbors could be seen discussing the disqualification cases against the lawmaker, with one of them, a woman, insisting, "Lola, kandidato pa rin po siya bilang presidente."

Her male neighbor proclaims, "Eh ganyang-ganyan din yung ginawa nila sa tatay niyang si FPJ eh," as the woman continued: "Pero sa huli, pinayagan ng Korte Suprema na tumakbo."

The man then says: "Parang pelikula lang yan ni FPJ, nagpapabugbog sa simula!"

Legal experts such as election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Vicente Joyas have been quick to point out that the two cases are different.

De Castro said as much in her reply to Poblador during the oral arguments.

"Even the factual circumstances of the cases you mentioned and this case are markedly different. There was no issue about the parentage of Fernando Poe. Here, we do not know when and where the petitioner was born. There were factual circumstances that the court relied upon at arriving at the decision," said De Castro.

To which Poblador replied: "To me the factual differences there are minor, they are even immaterial, I thought our task is to draw general conclusions with regard to presumptions involving natural-born citizenship, from one case. So that conclusion cannot be negated with minor differences in fact."

Questions of presumption

De Castro began her interpellation by asking, "Is it rational to accept your interpretation that there need not be certainty with regard to the qualification of a candidate because you are relying on a disputable presumption? ... Is it good for our people to vote on someone whose qualifications is not definite and uncertain and can be overturned anytine within the term of the winning candidate?"

Poblador replied, "I think the petitioner is entitled to presumptions of the law," adding that judges and courts must respect this, particularly if they are provided for in international law.

"This presumption should be respected even in the possibility that the presumption can be overturned later on," he said. "The alternative is to deny a foundling a right to run for public office purely based on doubt—doubt by reason of which private respondents could not even establish proof that she is a foreigner. I think it is unfair to the foundling."

De Castro, one of the four dissenting votes in the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal on Poe's case, went on to say that the senator's camp is invoking a presumption that is not conclusive but "disputable."

"So are you saying that the qualification of a candidate should not be definite at the time that one files a certificate of candidacy? Is that logical, rational, and a wise position to take considering the position involved in the case?"

To which Poblador responded, "But what standard of evidence does Your Honor require?"

"Is it not enough that there is substantial evidence or circumstantial evidence or presumption that Sen. Poe is a natural-born Filipino?" he said.

He added that presumption should be afforded to foundlings the same way that it applies in law to other people, including criminals.

"Most presumptions are disputable. And there is no argument that they should be regarded, they are in law books and something which judges and courts are required to follow even if they may have arbitrary or artificial  effect because there's a public policy behind it," Poblador said.

Insisting that Poe's camp is holding on to a disputable presumption, De Castro then pointed out that "there are so many gray areas in the provision of international law" that they are invoking.

"There is no legislation right now that we can say the Philippines followed this international law's principles... There are so many gray areas, hanging areas," she said.

"The point is there is no definite [presumption of natural-born citizenship], even in international law... If you can cite one, then put it in your memorandum," she added. —JST, GMA News