Sen. Grace Poe survived the challenge on her citizenship with the Senate Electoral Tribunal voting 5-4 with three Supreme Court justices declaring that Poe was not a natural born Filipino citizen. Sen. Nancy Binay and other senators upheld her citizenship. The SET decision was perceived by some legal luminaries as more of a political decision than one strictly based on law.
Now the Commission on Elections 2nd division has unanimously voted to disqualify Poe for her failure to fulfill the ten-year residency requirement of the Constitution for a presidential candidate.
In the next few days, we saw Poe’s legal team aggressively attacking the decision of the three Comelec commissioners, saying they ignored the proof Poe’s camp had presented.
Poe’s camp is expected to exhaust all legal remedies to seek relief, including going up to the Supreme Court. It will be a long legal and political struggle for her.
Three other disqualification cases against Poe are pending with the Comelec questioning her qualification to run for president. It won’t be smooth sailing for Poe because there are valid questions about her citizenship that have to be resolved with finality. Hopefully this will happen soonest before the election period begins in Feb. 9.
Poe shouldn’t blame anyone for her predicament. She’s running for high public office so is expected to come under scrutiny by political parties and ordinary citizens.
The Supreme Court decides on the legal effect of Poe’s renunciation of Filipino citizenship and her reacquiring it. The 1987 Constitution defines a natural born citizen as one who is born as a citizen without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect the citizenship.
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Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s declararation to run for president has been widely welcomed by Filipinos. But now he’s embroiled in more controversy over the use of profanity in his speech, especially his frequent use of the phrase “p — i –”.
He used the curse word in mentioning the Pope and the terrible traffic caused during the pontiff’s visit to Manila last January. The good mayor immediately issued an apology for his foul language. Some of his apologists tried to justify the cursing by saying the expletive “p — i — ” was part of Filipino culture.
Duterte also admitted in an interview that he has two wives and two girlfriends, and was a womanizer like former president Joseph Estrada. Duterte’s character has struck many as unbecoming of a potential president. His anti-crime and pro-federalism advocacy is very attractive but it’s time his supporters take a second look at the person of Duterte.
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