Scribd
Upload
288 views2 pages

Grace Poe vs. Comelec

The document summarizes a Supreme Court case regarding Senator Grace Poe's eligibility to run for president in the 2016 Philippine elections. Petitions were filed to deny or cancel her candidacy based on questions about her citizenship status. The Commission on Elections cancelled her candidacy, but the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, finding that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to determine questions of citizenship or residency, and that Grace Poe had not committed material misrepresentations in her certificate of candidacy. The Court said the Commission could only deny or cancel candidacy based on a prior finding of ineligibility by a competent authority.

Uploaded by

Bernabe Dela Cruz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
288 views2 pages

Grace Poe vs. Comelec

The document summarizes a Supreme Court case regarding Senator Grace Poe's eligibility to run for president in the 2016 Philippine elections. Petitions were filed to deny or cancel her candidacy based on questions about her citizenship status. The Commission on Elections cancelled her candidacy, but the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, finding that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to determine questions of citizenship or residency, and that Grace Poe had not committed material misrepresentations in her certificate of candidacy. The Court said the Commission could only deny or cancel candidacy based on a prior finding of ineligibility by a competent authority.

Uploaded by

Bernabe Dela Cruz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

G.R. No.

221697

MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE-LLAMANZARES, Petitioners,


vs.
COMELEC AND ESTRELLA C. ELAMPARO Respondents.

x-----------------------x

G.R. No. 221698-700

MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE-LLAMANZARES, Petitioners,


vs.
COMELEC, FRANCISCO S. TATAD, ANTONIO P. CONTRERAS AND AMADO D.
VALDEZ Respondents.

PEREZ, J.:

FACTS:

In 1968, Petitioner, Grace Poe, was found as a newborn infant in Iloilo, and was legally
adopted. In 1991, Poe went to the US to be a permanent resident therein. In 2001, she became a
naturalized US citizen. However, in the first quarter of 2005, she wanted to be with her grieving
mother due to the death of his father that is why she and her husband decided to move and reside
permanently in the Philippines. But she went back to the US to dispose their family belongings
on February 14, 2006.

Then, on July 18, 2006, she re-acquired Filipino citizenship. From then on, she stopped
using her American passport.

In her 2013 COC for Senator, before the May 13, 2013 election, Grace Poe has been a
resident of the Philippines for 6 years and 6 months (reckoned from year 2006 when she re-
acquired her Filipino citizenship under RA 9225).

In her COC for presidency for the May 2016 elections, Grace Poe declared that she is a
natural-born citizen and that her residence in the Philippines up to the day before 9 May 2016
would be 10 years and 11 months counted from 24 May 2005.

In line with this, Petitions were filed before the COMELEC to deny or cancel petitioner’s
candidacy on the ground that she cannot be considered a natural-born Filipino citizen since she
cannot prove that her biological parents or either of them were Filipinos. The COMELEC en
banc cancelled her candidacy on the ground that she is in want of citizenship and residence
requirements, and that she committed material misrepresentations in her COC.

Grace Poe proved that her statement in her 2013 COC was only a mistake in good faith.
As explained by Grace Poe, she misunderstood the date required in the 2013 COC as the period
of residence as of the day she submitted that COC in 2012. She said that she reckoned residency
from April-May 2006 which was the period when the U.S. house was sold and her husband
returned to the Philippines. In that regard, she was advised by her lawyers in 2015 that residence
could be counted from 25 May 2005.

ISSUE:

Whether or not Grace Poe’s candidacy should be denied or cancelled for committing
material misrepresentations in her COC

HELD:

No. The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled in favor of Senator Grace Poe, saying she can run
for president in the May 9, 2016 elections.

The COMELEC cannot cancel her COC on the ground that she misrepresented facts as to
her citizenship and residency because such facts refer to grounds for ineligibility in which the
COMELEC has no jurisdiction to decide upon. Only when there is a prior authority finding that
a candidate is suffering from a disqualification provided by law or the Constitution that the
COMELEC may deny due course or cancel her candidacy on ground of false representations
regarding her qualifications.

You might also like