7/25/2019 Poe vs Comelec Bernabe Dissenting

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Poe-Llamanzares vs COMELEC

GR. No. 221697, GR. Nos. 221698-700

Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe Dissenting Opinion

Justice Bernabe claimed that there as no !ra"e abuse o# discretion in the $%&'('$)s

rulin! that *etitioner +Grace oe had made a #alse material re*resentation in her 201 $erti#icate

o# $andidac/ + $o$ hen she declared that she as a natural-born citien o# the hili**ines.

Natural-born citiens, as de#ined in the $onstitution, are those ho are citiens o# the

hili**ines #rom birth ithout ha"in! to *er#orm an/ act to acuire o# *er#ect their citienshi*.

he hili**ine la on citienshi* adheres to the *rinci*le o# 3us san!uinis. 4ere, the child

#ollos the nationalit/ or the citienshi* o# the *arents re!ardless o# the *lace o# his5her birth.

Blood relation to a ili*ino *arent is there#ore necessar/ to sho that one is a ili*ino citien b/

birth under this *rinci*le.

n the case at bar, there as no e"idence hatsoe"er that ould sho blood relation to a

ili*ino *arent. hile the *etitioner initiall/ did not bear the burden o# *ro"in! that she made

#alse material re*resentation on her 201 $o$, that burden shi#ted to her hen she admitted her

status as a #oundlin!.

ithout an/ *roo# o# blood relation to a ili*ino *arent, and ithout an/ mention in the

constitution that #oundlin!s are considered or are *resumed to be ili*ino citiens b/ birth, the

$%&'('$)s rulin! that a *etitioner as not a natural-born citien cannot be taen as *atentl/

unreasonable and !rossl/ baseless so as to amount to !ra"e abuse o# discretion.

7/25/2019 Poe vs Comelec Bernabe Dissenting

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