New petition vs Poe lodged with Supreme Court

A lawyer from Cagayan de Oro City asked the Supreme Court yesterday to take jurisdiction of the citizenship case of presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and disqualify him from the May 10 elections.

Zoilo Antonio Velez, president of the Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said only the high tribunal can settle the issue on whether Poe is a natural-born Filipino.

"The issue is not political, and is not intended as claimed by some, to harass the respondent ... it is a constitutional question that has serious implications," he said.

Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of the president or vice president, he added.

Velez said Poe was an illegitimate child who acquired at birth the citizenship of his American mother.

"The subsequent marriage of the respondent’s parents would not have automatically conferred natural-born citizenship on the respondent, much less the legal act of being legitimized," he said.

Quoting records, Velez said Poe’s parents –Allan Fernando Poe and Bessie Kelley – were married on Sept. 16, 1940 in Manila, almost a year after Poe was born on Aug. 20, 1939.

"There was no dispute that as the respondent’s parents were not yet married at the time of his birth, he is therefore by law (considered) to be illegitimate," he said.

Having been born illegitimate, Poe acquired the American citizenship of his mother, he added.

Velez said under Article 121 of the old Civil Code, children shall be considered legitimate by a subsequent marriage only after they have been acknowledged by the parents before or after the celebration of marriage.

"No indubitable proof has been presented to show that the respondent’s parents have acknowledged him as their natural child," he said. "His birth certificate is bereft of proof that such an acknowledgment was made."

Velez said the acknowledgment of birth under Article 131 of the old Civil Code must be made in the record of birth, in a will, or in some other public document.

"Neither has proof been shown that the respondent himself has taken judicial action against his parents for the purpose of compelling them to acknowledge him as their natural child through a judgment of the court," he said. –Aurea Calica