SC has last word – Grace

‘FPJ won DQ case before SC’ 

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe sees the disqualification cases filed against her reaching the Supreme Court (SC) where she expects fairer treatment.

Poe admitted that she was disappointed with the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division to disqualify her from the presidential race, but said she would avail herself of all legal remedies.

Speaking at the GoNegosyo’s Meet the Presidentiables forum at the Solaire Resort in Pasay City yesterday, Poe likened her ordeal to that of a boxing match.

She said she won the first round at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) where the disqualification case filed by Rizalito David for her Senate candidacy was dismissed, but lost the second round at the Comelec Second Division, which acted on the case filed by lawyer Estrella Elamparo against her presidential run.

Even though the three SC justices in the SET voted to disqualify her as a senator, Poe said she has enough confidence that the SC will give her a fair shake once her cases are brought to the tribunal.

Poe recounted that her adoptive father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., also faced a similar disqualification case before the SC and was treated fairly by the justices, including former chief justice Reynato Puno.

“The Supreme Court is composed of different individuals. Justice Puno said that it should be the will of the people,” she said.

Poe’s legal counsel George Garcia expressed optimism that the Comelec in full session would overturn the decision of its second division.

Garcia said that the Comelec’s second division ignored the previous rulings of the SC that are applicable to Poe’s case. These should have been used as the basis for determining Poe’s fulfillment of the 10-year residency requirement for presidential candidates.

“We will convince the Comelec en banc that the second division erred in its resolution,” Garcia said, noting that they have until Dec. 7 to appeal the second division ruling to the full commission.

Poe has explained that she made an honest mistake on the dates related to her period of residency in the Philippines when she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator in 2013.

In her COC, Poe said that she had been residing in the country for six years and six months since November 2006.

If her period of residency is reckoned from November 2006, Poe will be a resident in the Philippines by May 9, 2016 for a period of only “9 years and 6 months” or six months short of the 10-year residency requirement, according to the Comelec’s second division.

Garcia said Poe began to settle permanently in the Philippines on May 24, 2005. After that, she enrolled her children in local schools in June 2005, purchased a property in late 2005, constructed her family home in Quezon City in early 2006 and sold their Virginia property in 2006.

Poe also said that she was not assisted by a lawyer when she filled up her COC and she made an honest mistake regarding the dates. She has since corrected that mistake in her COC for the presidency for the 2016 elections.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian said the latest motion filed by Elamparo for the Comelec to remove Poe from the list of candidates for president is premature.

“As a lawyer, she should know better than not to wait for the en banc to resolve the matter on hand. Attorney Elamparo’s actions reek of politics and mind conditioning more than seeking clarification from the Comelec,” Gatchalian said.

Comelec decision too ‘liberal’ to ‘mar’ polls

Poe said that she is convinced that people with vested interests are behind the cases filed against her.

Asked who was behind these cases, Poe came up with an answer that drew a loud cheer from the audience.

“This will not progress this way if nobody is behind it. Of course somebody is pushing for this. But let us respect this. Let us assume that they truly want to know what the Constitution says about this, but some are saying that the decision of the Comelec was too ‘liberal’ so as to ‘mar’ the 2016 election,” Poe said, apparently referring to Liberal Party’s presidential candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

At a press conference after the event, Poe admitted that she has two of her rivals in mind but she declined to identify them.

“I agree that this is part of their strategy but who will ultimately benefit from this? Clearly it’s my two rivals who I’m sure have people filing the cases against me. You all know the connections,” she said.

“You can see their movements. You know who has the connections to the big law firms. Who are the people we know are long-time allies of some of the people who are running? I just feel that somebody is behind it,” she added.

Poe has been leading the surveys for president with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Roxas ranking second and third, respectively.

Asked during the forum if she received a lot of invitations to run as their vice president before she declared her bid for the presidency, Poe said that there were many.

“But back then, my citizenship was not an issue to them. It did not matter to them where I came from. But now, it is saddening that they are the ones using these issues against me,” she said.

Asked if she will endorse any of the presidential candidates if ever she is disqualified, Poe said that it would be better for her if she kept this to herself.

“I don’t want to name anyone because that person might work double time to disqualify me,” Poe said in jest.