POE

The Supreme Court of the Philippines decision last week means that the movie star -- and friend of deposed president Joseph Estrada -- Fernando Poe can run for president. The case turned on the meaning of "natural-born citizen"; only natural-born citizens are constitutionally eligible to run for president, and Fernando Poe's citizenship was in question, since he is the illegitimate child of an American mother and a Spanish national whose status as a Philippines citizen is in doubt. The decision is interesting because it admits some doubt about Poe's citizenship but still ruled in his favor. See here (via law.com). The majority opinion written by Justice Vitug is here.

The Sassy Lawyer calls this a "political" decision. See here. Dean Jorge Bocobo has a series of posts on this issue, including this discussion of the meaning of "natural-born citizen," and this post entitled "Did the palace get what it wanted out of FPJ Disqualification Move?"