Jardeleza grills Comelec on criteria in determining natural-born person

HOW can a foundling, a child with no known parents find a DNA match to prove her citizenship?

Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza asked this question to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the fourth round of oral argument on the consolidated petition of Senator Grace Poe.

Poe filed two petitions before the Supreme Court questioning the decisions of the Comelec en banc canceling her certificate of candidacy (COC) due to questions on her citizenship and residency.

During the interpellation, Jardeleza said “Comelec may have crossed a line [when it issued the decision]. You may have deprived Senator Poe of her right to due process.”

Jardeleza noted that it seemed the Comelec did not made a finding of fact when it ruled on the case against Poe.

“I cannot find you, the Comelec, making the finding of fact on those matter,” Jardeleza said when he asked the basis of the poll body in ruling that Poe is not a natural-born citizen, one of the constitutional requirements for someone aspiring to become President of the Philippines.

But Comelec Commissioner Arthur Lim argued that they based their ruling on law.

“We made findings of facts [but] there were facts no longer necessary to be found,” Lim said enumerating such facts including the height of Poe which is 5’2, she was presumably born in Iloilo where she was abandoned, among others.

“Everything boils down to a matter of style,” Lim said.

“We may seem to be missing the point,” Jardeleza said, adding that “we must decide this case only on the basis of due process and equal protection of the laws.”

“By the way you decided [the case against Sen. Grace Poe], you have deprived petitioner Poe of her due process right to have her claim to natural born status, dismissed without considering the evidence,” Jardeleza added.

Lim insisted that Poe can still prove that she is a natural born Filipino through DNA test but admitted that “it is a tough nut to crack.”

When asked for their criteria in determining if a person is natural-born, Lim admitted that they do not have a criteria.

“We rely only on the Constitution,” he said in response to the question of Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro.

Lim said just because a child is 5’2 in height like Poe or has a brown skin does not mean the child is a natural-born Filipino.

“There are so many babies who have blue or green eyes or are meztiza because we are a mix race,” Lim said.

The oral argument is still ongoing with Comelec arguing its case.