Comelec: FPJ can run

Opposition frontrunner Fernando Poe Jr. scored a major victory yesterday when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed a petition questioning his citizenship and seeking his disqualification from the May 10 presidential race.

The Comelec’s three-member first division unanimously ruled that Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen and is eligible to stand for election, setting the stage for a showdown with President Arroyo.

"The petition is dismissed for lack of merit," said the ruling read out to the petitioners, Poe’s lawyers and the press by an election official.

"The rule of law has prevailed," said Poe spokesman Rodolfo Reyes, alleging that the case was "basically a harassment suit to cast doubt on the qualification of (Poe)."

Lawyer Victorino Fornier, the petitioner, told reporters he was "disappointed" and will ask the full seven-member body on Monday to reverse the ruling, promising a "marathon legal battle."

"We thought we knocked them (Poe’s camp) down but the referee was not looking," Fornier said, adding he would bring the case to the Supreme Court if the Comelec does not reverse the decision.

"In the meantime that the issue is not resolved, Poe is still a candidate," Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said. "Remember, the petition is to disqualify him, so until such time that he is disqualified, he is still considered a candidate."

The 12-page ruling defused a potentially explosive situation.

Supporters of the 64-year-old movie star had threatened to take to the streets if their candidate was disqualified. Outside the Comelec office, riot police scuffled with about 100 Poe supporters when they tried to march to the building. At least two were detained.

Earlier, Abalos said the Comelec would rule on the dispute the way they see it.

Fornier, however, said election officials got intimidated. "I have a feeling the Comelec avoided a difficult situation for them because it is too explosive an issue. They are trying to avoid meeting the issue head on," he said.

Fornier contends that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino citizen because his father was a Spanish citizen and his mother was an American.

In his petition, Fornier argued that Poe’s father did not have Philippine citizenship because he was descended from Spanish subjects living in the Philippines during Spanish colonial rule.

He claims that Poe was born out of wedlock — and therefore had to take his mother’s American citizenship — because the father had allegedly married another woman earlier.

Under the law, children born to a single mother must take their mother’s citizenship. The Constitution expressly requires that candidates for president should be natural-born Filipino citizens.

Poe A Natural-Born Filipino Citizen

Comelec first division head Commissioner Rufino Javier and fellow commissioners Resurreccion Borra and Luzviminda Tancangco rejected both arguments.

They said Poe’s father, who was born during the American occupation of the Philippines early last century, was a Filipino despite his Spanish heritage.

"Legitimacy therefore is beside the point. As long as the father is a Filipino, the child will always be a Filipino. As we have discussed early on, Allan Fernando Poe is a Filipino, his son Ronald Allan Poe (the actor’s real name), the respondent therein is a natural-born Filipino," said the decision.

It argued that Spanish citizens had the option to retain their citizenship when Spain turned over the Philippines to the United States at the turn of the century but this was not the case of Poe’s grandfather, Lorenzo Poe.

"To dispute that fact, petitioner should have presented proof that Lorenzo Poe intended to preserve his allegiance to the crown of Spain by making before a court of record… a declaration of his decision to preserve such allegiance. Since there was no such declaration, he should be held to have renounced it and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in which he resides."

Fornier disagreed. "The Comelec has created its own jurisprudence. The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that if a child is illegitimate he follows the citizenship of his mother," he told reporters.

Poe’s candidacy has unsettled the business community, which fears a repeat of Joseph Estrada’s failed presidency.

Poe’s strength lies with the country’s poor, who overwhelmingly voted for Estrada, his friend and fellow actor, in 1998.

In early 2001, Estrada was ousted on allegations he illegally amassed millions of pesos by running an illegal gambling protection racket, misusing state funds and profiting from insider trading.

He is currently behind bars on trial for economic plunder, a capital offense that may get him the death penalty or life imprisonment.

In recent weeks, Poe has been busy meeting with students, business people and other groups in a bid to allay concerns over his political inexperience.

He has yet to unveil a campaign platform and has avoided giving interviews.

Poe met business leaders in public for the first time last Wednesday and sought to calm their fears but failed to offer concrete policy details.

The business leaders pressed Poe on how he planned to boost the competitiveness of the Philippines and also asked whether he would offer perks to foreign investors, but he gave few details.

Not Over Yet

Concern that a rejection of Poe’s bid would destabilize the country has added pressure on the peso, which touched a record low of 55.85 per dollar last November. It traded at 55.71/74 per dollar yesterday afternoon.

Jojo Gonzales, head of Philippine Equity Partners, said markets were likely to suffer from uncertainty over the issue until the commission or the Supreme Court made a final ruling.

"The appeal will keep the citizenship issue alive technically but this is already settled substantially," said Alex Magno, a political analyst and speechwriter for President Arroyo. "However, the issue will keep a cloud of uncertainty over the whole campaign."

Poe’s lack of political experience and perceptions that his popularity is being used as a means to return to power by allies of Estrada has unnerved markets, but the prospect of mass unrest was seen as an even worse alternative.

Guillermo Luz, executive director of the influential Makati Business Club, said the citizenship issue "has to be addressed because it tests the rule of law."

"It seems like a mere technicality but it’s not. It could set a precedent on an attempt at bending the rules. You bend it and you bend it until the rule is not being followed anymore," he said.

Having that same view, a lawyer and an activist have filed a criminal complaint against Poe before a Manila city prosecutor, accusing him of perjury and falsifying public documents.

Poe has been ordered by Manila city assistant prosecutor Elseray Faith Noro to appear on Feb. 10 and 17 to present his side.

Lawyer Albert Villaseca and Marica Mondejar, of Akbay Maralita sa Lungsod Silangan Townsite Reservation, a non-governmental organization, accused Poe of lying about his citizenship when he registered his candidacy with the Comelec last month.

However, the Comelec ruled yesterday that there was "no allegation in the petition that material misrepresentation was contained" in the certificate of candidacy that Poe had filed.

"We declare that the respondent did not commit any material misrepresentation when he stated in his certificate of candidacy that he is a natural-born Filipino citizen," the ruling stated.

It was not immediately known if the Comelec ruling will have a bearing on the criminal charges against Poe. — With Nikko Dizon, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AFP