Constitution, adoption law indicate Poe is natural-born —family law expert

The 1987 Constitution along with the country's adoption laws indicate that foundlings like Sen. Grace Poe are natural-born Filipino citizens, according to an expert on family law.

In an interview with Howie Severino on "News To Go" on Thursday, Atty. Enrique Dela Cruz noted that Article IV, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution says "natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship."

"Maliwanag sa 1987 Constitution kung sino ang natural-born: Someone who did not have to perform any act to perfect his or her citizenship. Wala kang ginawa para ikaw ay maging natural-born. Lumalabas na ang mga diskusyon ngayon tungkol sa foundlings sa ilalim ng domestic adoption act ay pumapabor kay Senator Grace Poe," Dela Cruz said.

"Kung ituturing nga naman siyang Filipino by virtue of being a foundling, naturally wala rin siyang ginawa—she did not perform any act to perfect that citizenship. Maituturing siyang natural-born. I think that was the argument that was being constructed during the oral arguments last Tuesday."

On Tuesday, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno referred to Republic Act No. 8552 or the Act Establishing the Rules and Policies on the Domestic Adoption of Filipino Children and for Other Purposes while questioning Senator Poe's legal counsel. Sereno noted that the senator's status is covered by the adoption laws of the country.

Dela Cruz further explained that foundlings need to be considered Filipino citizens. Otherwise, as Poe's counsel Alexander Poblador noted during the hearing, "the court cannot decree their adoption."

International law

When asked about international law helping Poe's case, Dela Cruz noted that the Philippines was not a signatory of the United Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which was also brought up during the oral arguments.

The convention states: "A foundling in the territory of a Contracting State shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have been born within a territory of parents possessing the nationality of the State."

Sereno had admonished Poblador during the oral arguments for citing international law and failing the richness of domestic laws.

Dela Cruz said that if there is a conflict between international law and domestic law, the country will uphold its domestic law.

Legal limbo

In an earlier interview with GMA News, family lawyer Atty. Krisanto Karlo Nicolas of the Nicolas & De Vega Law Offices noted that because adoption does not settle questions on a child's citizenship, this may imply legal problems in an adopted person's political rights which are reserved for Filipino citizens, such as the right to vote or to run for public office.

Even being issued a passport or qualifying for scholarships can also be problematic because of this.

However, Nicolas added, the non-political rights of an adopted person, such as employment,  property acquisition, and succession were protected under law, without regard to citizenship, as stated in Article 189 of the Family Code of the Philippines.

Because the government usually assumes that the citizenship of an adopted foundling is the same as that of the adoptive parents, these matters are not usually a problem for most people, Nicolas said.

However, until a law explicitly states that citizenship can be passed on through adoption, he warned that adopted foundlings' citizenship, and the rights dependent on that citizenship, were in legal limbo.

"Kung may batas tayo na nagsasabi na isang adopted child ay kukunin ang citizenship ng kanyang adopted parents, iyon ang magka-clarify at iyon ang maggagawad ng citizenship niya kasi for all intents and purposes, citizenship by law na iyon," Nicolas said. —Aya Tantiangco/JST, GMA News