FACTS: Victorino X.

Fornier initiated a petition before the COMELEC to disqualify FPJ in the 2004 presidential
elections and to deny due course or to cancel his certificate of candidacy upon the thesis that FPJ made a material
misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy by claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen when in truth,
according to Fornier, his parents were foreigners; his mother, Bessie Kelley Poe, was an American, and his father,
Allan Poe, was a Spanish national, being the son of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject. Granting, petitioner
asseverated, that Allan F. Poe was a Filipino citizen, he could not have transmitted his Filipino citizenship to FPJ, the
latter being an illegitimate child of an alien mother. Petitioner based the allegation of the illegitimate birth of
respondent on two assertions - first, Allan F. Poe contracted a prior marriage to a certain Paulita Gomez before his
marriage to Bessie Kelley and, second, even if no such prior marriage had existed, Allan F. Poe, married Bessie Kelly
only a year after the birth of respondent.

ISSUE: W/N FPJ is a Filipino citizen despite the fact that he was an illegitimate son of a Fiipino father and an alien
mother?
Held: YES.
Who are natural-born citizens according to our Constitution?
Section 2, Article VII, of the 1987 Constitution expresses:
"No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able
read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten
years immediately preceding such election."
The term "natural-born citizens," is defined to include "those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without
having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship."
The date, month and year of birth of FPJ appeared to be 20 August 1939 during the regime of the 1935 Constitution.
Through its history, four modes of acquiring citizenship - naturalization, jus soli, res judicata and jus sanguinis had
been in vogue. Only two, i.e., jus soli and jus sanguinis, could qualify a person to being a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines. Jus soli, per Roa vs. Collector of Customs did not last long. With the adoption of the 1935 Constitution
and the reversal of Roa in Tan Chong vs. Secretary of Labor, jus sanguinis or blood relationship would now
become the primary basis of citizenship by birth.
FPJ was an illegitimate son of Allan Poe and Bessie Kelly. Allan Poe was a Filipino citizen because his father,
Lorenzo Pou was proven by documentary evidence to be a Filipino. Bessie Kelly was an American citizen. However
since paternity was clear in this case, FPJ is still Filipino citizen by virtue of jus sanguinis which does not make any
distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.
Also, despite the fact that Bessie Kelly was an American citizen, FPJ is still a Filipino because the 1987 Constitution
provides that those whose fathers OR mothers are citizens of the Philippines shall be citizens of the Philippines as
well.