Grace
Poe is a natural-born: A preponderance of evidence
One of
the qualifications for the presidential candidacy of the Philippines is that he
must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.[1]
Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth
without performing any act to perfect or obtain their citizenship.[2]
Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares, who now runs for presidential elections in 2016
is a foundling as evidenced by her documentary records. According to
International laws, foundlings are considered as citizens of the country where
they are found. The issue is whether or not Senator Grace Poe is eligible to
run for the 2016 presidential elections despite the fact of being a foundling.
According
to the Supreme Court decision regarding the citizenship of Senator Grace Poe[3],
she is qualified to run for the upcoming presidential elections on May 2016.
Allegedly, Senator Grace Poe cannot run for presidency as she is a naturalized
citizen and not a natural-born. However, according to international laws,
foundlings are considered citizens of the country where they are found. The
Philippines is not a party in the 1930
Hague convention nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness but
it doesn’t mean that the principles therein are not binding. Our country is a
signatory in the Hague Convention, therefore the Philippines is obliged to
confer to the international laws and consider foundlings as citizens of the
Philippines. The court also ruled that Senator Poe cannot be disqualified
because there must be a decision of final judgment stating that the certain
candidate failed to sustain the required qualifications for presidency. In this
case, it would take a long-time for the court to prove every single information
in dispute for Senator Grace Poe’s citizenship. It might take them even after
the time of the 2016 presidential elections to investigate on the matter.
Therefore Senator Poe cannot be disqualified by mere allegations on her
citizenship because there is a need for strict compliance to the law by having
a decision of final judgment by a competent court to disqualify a presidential
candidate.
Evidence
have proven that Senator Grace Poe is eligible as presidential candidate for
the 2016 presidential elections. The court has now the burden of proof to
provide counter-evidence that Grace Poe is not a natural-born. As for now, we
cannot do anything but to uphold the law unless otherwise proven. The
eligibility of Senator Poe may only be disputed after the 2016 presidential
elections whether if she wins. The only thing left to every Filipino-citizens
is to be a wise voter. We must have our own stand and belief. We must no vote
for a candidate just because he/she is the most famous or he/she is the richest
of them all. We must choose a candidate that would bring change in our country
and deliver us from poverty.
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