CHR tells SC: Foundlings are Filipino citizens

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has sided with Sen. Grace Poe in her battle against her disqualification from the presidential race that is now with the Supreme Court.

In a memorandum filed with the SC on Wednesday, the CHR said foundlings have the right to nationality and that the state is duty-bound to respect and protect this right. It also said the "best interest of the child" principle is applicable to foundlings.

"Foundlings in the Philippines should not be considered stateless," the CHR said. "There is basis in law to hold foundlings as Filipinos."

The CHR filed the memorandum as an "amicus curiae" or friend of the court.

Poe, a foundling adopted by Filipino parents, has asked the SC to overturn two Commission on Elections (Comelec) rulings that cancelled her certificate of candidacy for "misrepresentation" of citizenship and residency requirements.

The case is now up for a decision after the SC held five rounds of oral arguments where among the issues tackled was whether Poe is a natural-born citizen.

The assailed Comelec resolutions said Poe committed misrepresentation in her COC for claiming that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen. The poll body said a foundling is not considered as such because of unknown parentage.

International law, treaties

In its memorandum, the CHR said the "current state of international law arguably regards nationality as not entirely within the reserved domain of State sovereignty."

"The rights of other States and human rights considerations influence it, and so States are no longer with unbridled discretion on the question of nationality. States are bound by human rights norms and principles on questions of nationality, which have bearing on their own internal questions of nationality," the CHR said.

It also pointed out that the Philippines is a party to several international human rights treaties and "instruments" that provide for that right. Among them are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Moreover, the country has taken part in "treaties that protect and promote the rights of certain vulnerable groups," which the CHR said has provisions on the right of nationality.

Aside from the Philippines' obligation to recognize foundlings' right to citizenship, the CHR also pointed out that the said right "is self-executing because the object and purpose of the erga omnes ("towards all") obligation is 'not to create statelessness.'"

Further, the human rights body said Philippine state practice "adopts a liberal approach" to the situation of foundlings and considers them Filipinos.

The CHR said this can be seen in practices such as issuance of Philippine passport, civil registration of foundlings, adoption, and voter registration. —KBK, GMA News