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FPJ filed his COC for the position of president. One of the
constitutional requirements is for him to be a natural-born citizen.
Petitioners contend that he could not be a natural-born citizen, since his
parents were both foreigners (Father is Spanish, mother is American) and
even granting that his father was a Filipino citizen, he could not have
transferred his citizenship, FPJ being an illegitimate child of an alien
mother.
The Court held that to make a distinction between legitimate and
illegitimate children violates the equal protection clause. First, it would
make an illegitimate distinction between a legitimate child and an
illegitimate child, and second, it would make an illegitimate distinction
between the illegitimate child of a Filipino father and the illegitimate child
of a Filipino mother.
What is the relevance of legitimacy or illegitimacy to elective public
service? What possible state interest can there be for disqualifying an
illegitimate child from becoming a public officer. It was not the fault of the
child that his parents had illicit liaison. Why deprive the child of the fullness
of political rights for no fault of his own? To disqualify an illegitimate child
from holding an important public office is to punish him for the indiscretion
of his parents. There is neither justice nor rationality in that. And if there is
neither justice nor rationality in the distinction, then the distinction
transgresses the equal protection clause and must be reprobated.
To circumscribe the application of the endowed political privilege
under Section 1(3), Article IV of the 1935 Constitution only to the legitimate
children of Filipino fathers would be clearly violative of the equal protection
clause of the Constitution. There appears to be no substantial distinction
between legitimate and illegitimate children to justify their disparate
treatment vis--vis the possession of the status of and the exercise of a
political privilege, including the right to run for and be elected to public
office. The legal status of illegitimacy, however defined, bears no relation to
the individuals ability to participate in and contribute to society. The only
purported purpose of the natural-born citizen requirement is to ensure
the elected public officers allegiance to the Republic.
While the totality of the evidence may not establish conclusively that
respondent FPJ is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, the evidence on
hand still would preponderate in his favor enough to hold that he cannot be
held guilty of having made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of
candidacy in violation of Section 78, in relation to Section 74, of the
Omnibus Election Code.
FACTS
Ronald Allan Kelly Poe, also known as Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ) filed his
certificate of candidacy for the position of President of the Republic of the
Philippines under the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) Party, in
the forthcoming national elections. In his certificate of candidacy, FPJ,
representing himself to be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines
Petitioners filed a petition to deny due course or to cancel his certificate of
candidacy upon the thesis that FPJ made a material misrepresentation in his
certificate of candidacy by claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen
when in truth, according to Fornier, his parents were foreigners; his mother,
Bessie Kelley Poe, was an American, and his father, Allan Poe, was a
Spanish national, being the son of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject. Granting,
petitioner asseverated, that Allan F. Poe was a Filipino citizen, he could not
have transmitted his Filipino citizenship to FPJ, the latter being an
illegitimate child of an alien mother.
The term "natural-born citizens," is defined to include "those who are
citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to
acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.
ISSUE
Petitioner contended that as an illegitimate child, FPJ so followed the
citizenship of his mother, Bessie Kelley, an American citizen, basing his
stand on the ruling of this Court in Morano vs. Vivo,[43] citing Chiongbian
vs. de Leon[44] and Serra vs. Republic.[45]
"Aside from the fact that such a pronouncement would have no textual
foundation in the Constitution, it would also violate the equal protection
clause of the Constitution not once but twice.
- First, it would make an illegitimate distinction between a legitimate
child and an illegitimate child, and
- second, it would make an illegitimate distinction between the
illegitimate child of a Filipino father and the illegitimate child of a
Filipino mother.
The fact of the matter perhaps the most significant consideration is that
the 1935 Constitution, the fundamental law prevailing on the day, month
and year of birth of respondent FPJ, can never be more explicit than it is.
Providing neither conditions nor distinctions, the Constitution states that
among the citizens of the Philippines are those whose fathers are citizens
of the Philippines. There utterly is no cogent justification to prescribe
conditions or distinctions where there clearly are none provided.