Foundling 2

Grace Poe's rivals have one last chance to torpedo her presidential ambitions and that is to question her citizenship. I've written about this topic before but as the days pass and the elections draw ever closer, they're gonna ramp this issue up. I'll do my best to simplify the issue.

Grace Poe is a foundling. The law is silent when it comes to foundlings whose parents are completely unknown. Since the citizenship of her parents cannot be determined, we cannot say she is a Filipino citizen since we follow the principle of blood ties, not the principle of place of birth.

The answer would have to come from International Law. The Philippines, through the doctrine of incorporation, considers the generally accepted principles of International Law as part of the law of the land. The UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness provides the answer and fills in the gaps of our laws. Said convention states that the foundling is presumed to have been born to parents who are citizens of the state where he or she was found. Grace Poe would thus be considered a Filipino citizen.

So no problem, right? Yes, problem. One of the qualifications for President is that one must be a natural born Filipino citizen. There are two kinds of Filipinos: those who are natural born and those who are naturalized. The constitution tells us who is a Filipino by birth but it says nothing of foundlings. The big question is if the list of people who are considered natural born, as stated in the constitution, is exclusive.

It's a tricky question, no doubt. An argument can be made that the list of those who are natural born Filipinos is exclusive and allowing International Law to modify this would be allowing foreign law to amend our constitution, as it were. On the other hand, our hypothetical foundling, whose parents are unknown, has no say in the matter. A foundling didn't commit any positive act to become a Filipino but was just born that way. So somebody else naturalized Poe for her? I think the former argument is more persuasive legally but law often gives way to the fickle temperament of the people who may become sympathetic to an "injustice" against her. If there's one thing I've learned in all my years living in this country, it's that politics trump law all the time.

Fortunately, the solution is quite simple and I offer this solution for Grace Poe free of charge since I'm such a nice guy and I hate Mar. Find the parents. No really, put up a big cash bounty to find Poe's real parents or anyone closely related to them. A DNA test here and some paperwork there, and voila! Problem solved and no need for courtroom time-wasters. You can also milk it for some political mileage. It has potential to make for a nifty drama. Imagine the apologetic parents and Poe's "tearful reunion". It's a made to order TV drama for the emotional Filipino masses. 

It's perfect!