In a 14-page resolution, the 15 SC justices, sitting as members of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the election protest filed by actor Fernando Poe Jr. "on the ground that no real party in interest has come forward within the period allowed by law, to intervene in this case or be substituted for the deceased protestant."
Poe died last Dec. 14 with his election protest pending, and his widow Susan Roces asked the PET to name her instead as the petitioner.
But in the same resolution penned by Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, the PET dismissed the election protest, saying Roces — Jesusa Sonora Poe — was not the "real party in interest" in the case.
"The motion of Jesusa Sonora (Roces) to intervene and substitute for the deceased protestant (Poe) is dismissed for lack of merit," the ruling said.
The SC said Roces cannot substitute for her deceased husband since under the PET rules "only the registered candidates who obtained the 2nd and 3rd highest votes for the presidency may contest the election of the president."
"Patently, Mrs. Poe did not receive the 2nd and 3rd highest votes (as) she was not even a candidate for the presidency in the (May 2004) election that is being contested," the court said.
Mrs. Arroyo won the presidency by over a million votes, but allegations of electoral cheating led to a drop in her popularity.
Poe, the country’s top movie action star and a close friend of deposed President Joseph Estrada, almost snatched the lead from Mrs. Arroyo and came in second.
Court spokesman Ismael Khan said Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who finished third in the May elections, was more qualified to file and pursue Poe’s protest.
He added that Vice President Noli de Castro, the winning vice presidential candidate, would also have been qualified to pursue the protest. De Castro ran in tandem with Mrs. Arroyo under the administration K-4 ticket in the May 10 elections.
Khan explained the "real party in interest" should have pursued the petition within the prescriptive period of 30 days from the day the winning presidential candidate was officially proclaimed.
"This decision means there are no more challenges against the President’s victory," he said.
Khan said that Poe’s camp has 15 days within which to file a motion for reconsideration.
"We will file a motion for reconsideration if the protest was denied on a technicality," Poe’s lawyer Sixto Brillantes said.
"I have not seen the court’s decision. I will consult with my client first before taking any action," he said.
Poe’s camp and supporters had persuaded his widow to pursue the electoral case "for paramount public interest."
Roces said the untimely demise of her husband prompted her to pursue the electoral protest to determine who truly won the May presidential elections.
The court noted, however, that Roces herself admitted she is not claiming the presidency.
"Thus, given the circumstances of the case, we can conclude that protestant’s widow is not a real party in interest to this election protest," the court said.
"We laud her noble intention and her interest to find out the true will of the electorate. However, nobility of intention is not the point of reference in determining whether a person may intervene in an election protest," the court further stated.
The high court said the rules on substitution under the Rules of Court cannot be applied in the case since "a public office is personal to the public officer and not a property transmissible to the heirs upon death."
Mrs. Arroyo, as the protestee in the election protest case, cited numerous rulings by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), among which a widow of a deceased candidate is not the proper party to replace the deceased protestant since a public office is personal and not a property that passes on to the heirs.
She pointed out that the widow has no legal right to substitute for her husband in an election protest since no such right survives the husband.
The high court accepted the argument made by Mrs. Arroyo in applying the PET ruling that only two persons, namely the 2nd and 3rd placers in the race, may contest the election.
"By this express enumeration, the rule makers have in effect determined the real parties in interest concerning an ongoing election contest. It envisioned a scenario where, if the declared winner had not been truly voted upon by the electorate, the candidate who received that 2nd and the 3rd highest number of votes would be the legitimate beneficiary in a successful election contest," the court said.
It was First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo who relayed the news to the President with a phone call.
"We won the case, the truth prevailed!" Mr. Arroyo reportedly said. "It’s now time for the nation to unite."
For his part, Romulo Macalintal, counsel of the President in the electoral case, stressed he has yet to receive a copy of the decision.
But he said the ruling would contribute to the stability of the country’s electoral process.
"I will go to the Supreme Court first thing in the morning (today) to secure an official copy of the resolution and the moment I get one, I would officially inform the President," Macalintal said.
"But I’m very glad that it’s all over," he added.
Macalintal noted that Poe’s camp still has the right to file a motion for reconsideration.
"They have all the right to seek remedy at the PET. We will just be waiting for their actions," he said.
Opposition leaders like Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. likewise urged Poe’s supporters to respect the decision of the Supreme Court.
"In the light of the SC’s dismissal of FPJ’s protest and the dismissal of Susan’s petition replacing him as protestant, we shouldn’t let ourselves be used by men of violence to destroy FPJ’s name as a man of peace," Pimentel said in a text message to Senate reporters.
But to Poe’s former campaign spokesman, Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero, the decision was "too light-handed."
He said many of his opposition colleagues were "deeply saddened" by the ruling.
"It would seem that the justices were too light-handed in dismissing the petition of Susan Roces because they simply declared it was without merit without taking pains to explain to the public the rationale behind the decision," Escudero said.
The Bicol lawmaker said many people would be left wondering who actually won the May 2004 presidential election. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez, Marvin Sy, AFP