President Rodrigo Duterte.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he would want Sen. Grace Poe to be the country鈥檚 president someday but on one condition: amend the Constitution that would explicitly allow foundlings to run for office.
In a speech during a birthday party in Cavite聽on Tuesday聽night, Duterte said he did not agree with the Supreme Court鈥檚 2016 decision that Poe, a foundling, is a natural-born citizen.
鈥淏ut I like Grace Poe to be President someday if the requirement remains to be same. But, I said, I think we will amend the Constitution and make that exemption, na 鈥榶ung foundling are already qualified,鈥� Duterte said.
While he treats Poe as a friend, Duterte said there is only one way to become a natural-born citizen, and that is to 鈥済o out of your mother鈥檚 womb.鈥�
鈥淓h pabalik-balik 鈥榶an sa (It鈥檚 been repeated in) law school. Kami, only to be interpreted of incorporating a treaty and overruling a strict, I said, a poignant one because you must be a citizen out鈥� inside and out of your mother鈥檚 womb,鈥� Duterte said.
鈥淜asi kung wala kang (Because if you have no) known father or mother, you are a foundling, and then you cannot really say with certainty now that you are a natural-born citizen. 鈥榊un lang po (That鈥檚 all). I disagreed with the Supreme Court,鈥� he added.
Duterte has repeatedly said that the SC decision allowing Poe to run prompted him to pursue his candidacy during the 2016 elections.
Even as President, Duterte has insisted on many occasions that Poe was not a natural-born Filipino and stressed that she should banned from running for public office.
On March 8, 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that Poe is 鈥減resumptively natural born,鈥� overturning the Commission on Election鈥檚 decision to disqualify the senator from running for public office.
Months later, on聽September 21, the high court en banc upheld the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, declaring Poe a natural-born Filipino citizen and qualified to run for public office. /je