SC justices on Poe: Citizenship not automatically granted to foundlings

Senate Electoral Tribunal chair and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, argued that no law automatically grants citizenship to foundlings born in the Philippines.”Even if there were, such a law would only result in the foundling being a naturalized Filipino citizen, not a natural-born Filipino citizen,” Carpio said. Echoing Carpio, both Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion said there is nothing in the 1935 Constitution (the charter that was in effect when Poe was born) that grants citizenship to foundlings. Voting in favor of dismissing the petition to disqualify Poe, Senators Bam Aquino and Cynthia Villar said it was not the intention of the framers of the 1935 Constitution to “exclude” and “discriminate against” foundlings when it comes to natural-born citizenship. Aquino and Senator Tito Sotto both argued foundlings should be accorded social justice. The SET voted 5-4 to dismiss the petition.

Read more on SC justices arguments on Poe’s citizenship.