Page 20 - Hello Philippines November 2015 'B' issue

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IPoaem: ‘Dai aknoaatluierna’l,-I abmoranfoFuinlidpliinngo,
MANILA – Senator Grace Poe
on Thursday insisted in her affidavit
before the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) that she is a foundling,
therefore a natural-born Filipino
citizen under the 1935 Constitution.
Though she was absent at the
preliminary investigation of the
election offense filed by Rizalito David
against her, Poe’s counsel, lawyer
George Garcia, presented before
the Comelec her 144-page counter-
affidavit which contained evidence
such as her foundling certificate,
her Philippine and US passports,
and documents she submitted to the
Bureau of Immigration.
David had accused her of lying for not
being a natural-born citizen and lacked
the residency requirement when she
filed her certificate of candidacy in 2013. Filipinos,” she added.
In her counter-affidavit submitted
to the poll body, Poe said that the
Supreme Court had ruled in Fermin vs
Comelec and Fernandez vs HRET, “it
is not enough to simply prove that my
biological parents are unknown”.
“I am a foundling, I am a natural-
born Filipino,” Poe told Comelec.
She said that even though
foundlings are not expressly mentioned
in Section 1, Article IV of the 1935
Constitution, it was nevertheless
the intent of the framers of the 1935
Constitution to include them as citizens
of the Philippines under paragraphs (3)
and/or (4) of Section 1, Article IV of the
1935 Constitution.
“Although insufficient by itself
to discharge Complainant’s burden
of proof, my status as a foundling
is adequate factual basis to legally
consider me a natural-born Filipino,”
Poe said.
False representation in COC. Poe
said that “in order to satisfy his burden
of proof that I made a materially ‘false’
representation in my COC (Certificate
of Candidacy) regarding my ‘natural
born’ citizenship, Complainant
ought to have either ‘categorically’
or ‘conclusively’ established that:
(a) My parents are foreigners; or (b)
My parents are not ‘citizens of the
Philippines.’”
“These are the only facts which
would negate the possibility that I
might fall under paragraphs (3) or
(4) of Section 1, Article IV of the
1935 Constitution. These are the only
facts which would make false my
representation in my COC for Senator
that I am a ‘NATURAL BORN FILIPINO
CITIZEN’,” Poe said with emphasis
supplied.
‘Di ako alien’. Poe said that if David
had proven that her biological parents
are aliens, it would follow that she does
not fall under any of the five categories
of citizens under Section 1, Article IV of
the 1935 Constitution.
“In turn, it would follow that I am
‘stateless’ and that it was ‘false’ for me
to represent in my COC that I am a
natural-born Filipino,” Poe said.
On the other hand, Poe said that
it is “precisely because my biological
parents are unknown that there is, at
least, a possibility (and a very strong
one at that) that they are Filipinos”.
“It is because I may be Filipino, that
my statement in my COC for Senator
that I am a natural born citizen of the
Philippines, is not necessarily ‘false’,”
Poe said.
“More importantly, common
sense, and applicable disputable
presumptions, would strongly dictate
that I was most probably born of
Poe said that the “ordinary course of
nature” and the “ordinary habits of life,”
taken together with the admitted facts
in this case, “lead to the conclusion that senator said that “By insisting that I
my biological parents were most likely
Filipinos, and not foreigners”.
“I am only 5 ft. 2 inches tall. I
have brown almond-shaped eyes, a
low nasal bridge, straight black hair
and an oval-shaped face. My height
and facial features are consistent with
physical traits ordinarily associated
with Filipinos,” Poe said.
Biological parents. Poe also said that
there is no dispute that I was found, as
a new-born baby, in Iloilo City which is
located in the Philippines.
“My biological parents were
therefore likely to have been residents
of Iloilo City. In 1968, as at any time,
an overwhelming majority of the
population of Iloilo City were Filipinos,” the international airport, they chose to or non-Filipinos, for this is the only
she said.
“It would also be wholly contrary
to the ordinary habits of life for a
pregnant foreigner (together with
her foreigner husband or partner) to
leave her motherland in order to give
birth in the Philippines, a country
where she neither lives nor resides.
And why travel to Iloilo City of all
places in the Philippines? Wouldn’t a
pregnant about-to-give-birth foreigner
in 1968 prefer to give birth in Manila
(or its vicinity) where the international
airport and main port are located?”
Poe asked.
Poe said there is also no question
that “I was abandoned in a Roman
Catholic Church. This is significant
because a great majority of Filipinos are
Roman Catholics, and only a Roman
Catholic would be expected to entrust
his/her new-born child to a church.”
Moreover, she added, that even
in 1968, the Philippines was the
only predominantly Roman Catholic
country in Asia.
“In the ordinary course of things,
one must presume that Filipinos, with
Roman Catholic faith, decided to leave
Respondent in a church in Iloilo City,”
NEWS
Poe said.
Poe said that her abandonment
as a new-born child is also far more
consistent with my biological parents
being Filipinos.
“New-born children are abandoned
usually because their parents are
poor and cannot afford to take care of
them,” Poe said.
“On the other hand, foreigners
impoverished in their own country
would not likely have the means
to travel and find themselves
impoverished in the Philippines,” Poe
added.
“Therefore, abandoned children
found in the Philippines are more likely disregards the obvious reality that
to have been born of poor Filipino
parents, as opposed to foreigners,” she
said.
Far-fetched scenario. The lady
have the burden of proving that my
parents are Filipinos, Complainant
essentially wants this Honorable
Commission to accept the most far-
fetched and implausible scenarios
surrounding my birth.”
“For instance: my parents were
foreigners, who just so happened
to have predominantly Filipino-like
physical features,” she said.
“Though impoverished, shortly
before I was born, they somehow
found the resources to travel from their Philippines, not one of them was born
motherland abroad, to the Philippines,”
she added.
However, Poe said that instead of
settling in Manila, which is closest to
travel again, to Iloilo City.
“Since they were poor, they decided
to abandon me. Although not of the
Roman Catholic faith, these foreigners
nevertheless decided to leave me in
a Roman Catholic Church. These
foreigners then disappeared, and were
never heard from again,” Poe said.
Absence of evidence. Poe said that in Philippines,’ Poe said.
the absence of evidence, the law does
not require this Honorable Commission
to accept the improbable, the unlikely
and the absurd.
“As discussed, ‘unless overcome
by evidence,’ the ‘ordinary’ must be
November 2015 / Fortnightly – No. 22 • UK & Europe Edition
presumed. In this case, the ‘ordinary
course of nature’ and the ‘ordinary
habits of life’ tell us that a new-born
baby with brown eyes, black hair and
an oval-shaped face, found in a Parish
Church in Iloilo City hours after her
birth, was born of Filipinos. Indeed,
Occam’s Razor teaches us that the
simplest answer is often correct,” Poe
explained.
Foundling status. Poe said that
her status as a foundling (and other
material circumstances surrounding
my birth) make room, not simply for
the possibility, but the likelihood that
I was born to Filipinos.
“Complainant’s theory that a
foundling cannot be a Filipino
there have been many Filipino parents
who have abandoned, and there will
always be many Filipino parents who
will abandon, their children in the
Philippines,” Poe explained.
In short, she added that Complainant
would theorize that no Filipino parent
is capable of such unfortunate misdeed.
“The offspring of those Filipinos
who abandoned them are actually
natural born Filipinos, only that they
could not identify their parents,” Poe
said.
“Complainant’s theory is thus
absurd—that out of the thousands,
if not millions over the years,
of foundlings abandoned in the
of Filipino parents,” Poe added.
Summary. In summary, Poe said that
Complainant ought to have proven that
her biological parents are foreigners
fact which would “categorically” and
“conclusively” exclude me from the
class of citizens under paragraphs (3)
and (4), Section 1, Article IV of the
1935 Constitution.
“On the other hand, by merely
alleging that my biological parents
are ‘unknown,’ it remains possible, if
not likely, that they are ‘citizens of the Electoral Tribunal (SET).
“By simply asserting that my
biological parents are ‘unknown,’
my representation in my COC for
Senator that I am a “NATURAL BORN
FILIPINO CITIZEN” is not rendered
“false,” she said.
“Based on the foregoing,
Complainant failed to prove that I
committed an election offense under
Section 74 of the OEC. The Complaint
must therefore be dismissed as regards
my representation concerning my
natural-born citizenship,” Poe said.
Two different cases. Poe’s lawyer,
Garcia said: “Pinatunayan namin
na (1.) natural born siya, (2.)
imposibleng nagsinungaling siya.
Subject sa interpretation yan at wala
pang decision ang korte suprema.
So walang pagsisinungaling, walang
misrepresentation, walang kaso.”
(We proved that she was natural-
born and it was impossible for her to
tell a lie. It’s subject to interpretation
and the Supreme Court has not made a
decision yet. So there was no falsehood,
no misrepresentation, no case.)
Poe’s insisted that she is natural-
born, though she had admitted that she
is a foundling.
Garcia said, “Siya po ay in-adopt
ni FPJ at Susan Roces. Sa batas natin
‘di pwede i-adopt ang alien, natural
born Filipino lang (She was adopted
by Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.
Under the law, you cannot adopt an
alien, but only a Filipino).”
But David’s counsel, lawyer Manuel
Luna, said: “It will strengthen or bolster
our position of false misrepresentation.
There is now a variance as of period of
residency of Senator Poe for purposes
of computing her compliance to the 10
year requirement for president.”
The case is now submitted for
resolution. Within a month, the
Comelec’s Law Department is set
to give its recommendation to the
Comelec en banc.
But Poe’s camp filed a motion to
suspend the proceedings because there
is still a pending case before the Senate
David’s camp however said the
proceedings cannot be suspended
because the cases are different – the
one before the Comelec is an election
offense while the other before the SET
is a disqualification case.
On Nov. 23, the Comelec is set to hear
the disqualification case filed by former
senator Kit Tatad against Poe. But the
lady senator’s camp filed a motion to
consolidate all disqualification cases
filed against her, which the petitioners
are opposing.
The Comelec will come out with an
official list of candidates on Dec. 10.
The Comelec en banc will tackle the
issue on whether to include Poe’s name
in the list even if the cases against her
have not been decided yet. n Ernie Reyes /
InterAksyon.com / JV Arcena / News5 / November 14,
2015 / 12:43 am