Family law expert: Poe a natural-born Filipino

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe is presumed to be a natural-born Filipino unless proven otherwise, a high-profile lawyer said.

Family law expert Katrina Legarda said Poe, as a foundling, was abandoned by her parents in the Philippines, making her a Filipino citizen.

"A foundling found in the Philippines is a natural born Filipino and he or she who denies it has to prove it that the mother is not a Filipino or is a foreigner," Legarda said in a forum in Quezon City on Saturday, as cited in a state news report.

"The presumption is Sen. Poe and all foundlings are natural born citizens, born to mothers who are Filipino because it defies imagination that a foreign woman, pregnant, will go to Iloilo or goes to our country to give birth," she added.

The Commission on Election Second Division canceled Poe's certificate of candidacy for president on December 1, saying she failed to meet the 10-year residency requirement for presidential candidates.

On Friday, the poll agency's First Division likewise disqualified Poe from the presidential race based on consolidated petitions by former Sen. Francisco "Kit" Tatad, former law dean Amado Valdez and professor Antonio Contreras.

Poe's camp said it will respect the decision of the Supreme Court and follow its final verdict.