By Manny Piñol
Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte, who last night repeated an earlier declaration that he is not running for President, may yet be drawn into the presidential fray with the feared disqualification of survey front-runner Senator Grace Poe.
Shortly before a late night press conference Duterte held in a Davao City hotel Monday, the social media were abuzz with stories on the reported legal views of at least three Supreme Court justices that Poe, a foundling who was adopted by movie stars Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces, is not a natural-born Filipino citizen.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who heads the Senate Electoral Tribunal hearing the question on Poe's citizenship lodged by a losing senatorial candidate, and Associate Justices Antonio Brion and Teresita Leonardo de Castro share the opinion that while a foundling is granted a citizenship in the country where she is found, she could not be considered natural born.
“So if there is a customary international law which says a foundling shall become a natural born citizen where a country it was found shall not apply to our country because it will be contrary to the Constitution,†Carpio said.
The Philippine Constitution requires candidates for President to be natural-born Filipino citizens following the "jus sanguines" citizenship doctrine, or citizenship by blood.
Since Poe's biological parents could not be identified, she is considered a naturalised Filipino citizen following the provisions of the International Law granting citizenship to foundlings in the country where they were found.
Following the three justices shared views, the disqualification of Senator Poe from the Presidential race is imminent.
With Poe out of the race, the choices for the Presidency would be limited to Vice President Jejomar Binay and administration bet Manuel Roxas III.
Binay is hounded by multi-billion peso plunder charges while Roxas is perceived as an insensitive elitist who has failed to address the problems of drugs and criminality as Secretary of the DILG.
Duterte, who last night reiterated that he does not have the money to run a national campaign and that his family does not like the idea of the Presidency, is currently ranked No. 4 in the surveys.
He, however, has legions of die-hard supporters who believe that Duterte could solve the problems of drugs and rising criminality in the country.
Many consider Poe, who is seen as inexperienced and bereft of a deep understanding of the national issues and concerns, as the best among the poor options.
With Poe out of the race, Duterte's silent legionnaires and Poe's supporters who could not go to either the Binay and Roxas camp may yet launch an intensified and last ditch effort to convince the Davao City Mayor to change his mind and accept the challenge to be President.
When this happens, the saying "You cannot escape your destiny" will once again ring true.
