Intention of The Framers of 1935 Constitution
Intention of The Framers of 1935 Constitution
Intention of The Framers of 1935 Constitution
The Solicitor General offered official statistics from the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA)111 that from 1965 to 1975, the total number of foreigners born
in the Philippines was 15,986 while the total number of Filipinos born in the
country was 10,558,278. The statistical probability that any child born in the
Philippines in that decade is natural-born Filipino was 99.83/o. For her part,
petitioner presented census statistics for Iloilo Province for 1960 and 1970, also
from the PSA. In 1960, there were 962,532 Filipinos and 4,734 foreigners in the
province; 99.62/o of the population were Filipinos. In 1970, the figures were
1,162,669 Filipinos and 5,304 foreigners, or 99.55o/o. Also presented were
figures for the child producing ages (15-49). In 1960, there were 230,528 female
Filipinos as against 730 female foreigners or 99.68/o. In the same year, there
were 210,349 Filipino males and 886 male aliens, or 99.58/o. In 1970, there
were 270,299 Filipino females versus 1, 190 female aliens, or 99.56%. That same
year, there were 245,740 Filipino males as against only 1,165 male aliens or
99.53/o. COMELEC did not dispute these figures. Notably, Commissioner Arthur
Lim admitted, during the oral arguments, that at the time petitioner was found in
1968, the majority of the population in Iloilo was Filipino.112
Other circumstantial evidence of the nationality of petitioner's parents are the
fact that she was abandoned as an infant in a Roman Catholic Church in Iloilo
City. She also has typical Filipino features: height, flat nasal bridge, straight black
hair, almond shaped eyes and an oval face.
There is a disputable presumption that things have happened according to
the ordinary course of nature and the ordinary habits of life.113 All of the
foregoing evidence, that a person with typical Filipino features is abandoned in
Catholic Church in a municipality where the population of the Philippines is
overwhelmingly Filipinos such that there would be more than a 99% chance that
a child born in the province would be a Filipino, would indicate more than ample
probability if not statistical certainty, that petitioner's parents are Filipinos. That
probability and the evidence on which it is based are admissible under Rule 128,
Section 4 of the Revised Rules on Evidence.
To assume otherwise is to accept the absurd, if not the virtually impossible,
as the norm.
4. Domestic Laws also provide for the status of a foundling
Domestic laws on adoption also support the principle that foundlings are
Filipinos. These laws do not provide that adoption confers citizenship upon the
adoptee. Rather, the adoptee must be a Filipino in the first place to be adopted.
The most basic of such laws is Article 15 of the Civil Code which provides that
"[l]aws relating to family rights, duties, status, conditions, legal capacity of
persons are binding on citizens of the Philippines even though living abroad."
Adoption deals with status, and a Philippine adoption court will have jurisdiction
only if the adoptee is a Filipino.
The Court cited the case of Ellis and Ellis v. Republic on which it stated that:
Constitution itself, as embodied in the due process and equal protection clauses
of the Bill of Rights.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR") has been interpreted by this
Court as part of the generally accepted principles of international law and
binding on the State.130 Article 15 thereof states:
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
The Philippines has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC). Article 7 of the UNCRC imposes the following obligations on our
country:
Article 7
1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the
right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and as far as
possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in
accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant
international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would
otherwise be stateless.
In 1986, the country also ratified the 1966 International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 24 thereof provide for the right of every child
"to acquire a nationality:
1. Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex,
language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right, to such
measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of
his family, society and the State.
2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a
name.
3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality.
The common thread of the UDHR, UNCRC and ICCPR is to obligate the
Philippines to grant nationality from birth and ensure that no child is stateless.
This grant of nationality must be at the time of birth, and it cannot be
accomplished by the application of our present naturalization laws,
Commonwealth Act No. 473, as amended, and R.A. No. 9139, both of which
require the applicant to be at least eighteen ( 18) years old.