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10-year residency requirement disqualifies Grace Poe in 2016 —UNA
(UPDATED June 3, 01:00 a.m.) Sen. Grace Poe is not qualified to run for President or for Vice President in the 2016 elections because she's six months short of the residency requirement under the 1987 Constitution, an opposition leader said on Tuesday.
UNA interim president and Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco said Article VII, Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states that "no person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election."
The same qualifications are also required from those who want to run for Vice President, as stated in Section 3 of the same Article.
Tiangco then presented a photocopy of Poe's certificate of candidacy during the 2013 senatorial elections, which showed that the then-senatorial aspirant had been a resident of the Philippines for six years and six months prior to the midterm polls.
During the 2013 polls, Poe was a guest senatorial candidate of the ruling Liberal Party.
During the 2013 polls, Poe was a guest senatorial candidate of the ruling Liberal Party.
Tiangco said that even if Poe's residency in the Philippines until the May 2016 elections were to be included, she will still be six months short of the Constitutional requirement of a 10-year residency period.
The next presidential elections will be held on May 9, 2016.
The next presidential elections will be held on May 9, 2016.
The UNA stalwart said he revealed the information about Poe because of the senator's recent statements about putting a premium on honesty in choosing her potential partner should she run for higher office.
"Ang nadinig kong buong statement ay napakahalaga kay Senator Grace ang honesty. Ang tanong ko lang: Kung napakahalaga sa kanyang ng salitang 'honesty,' why isn't she honest enough to tell us she's not qualified to run for 2016? 'Yan ba ang pagiging tapat?" he asked.
Tiangco vouched for the COC’s authenticity, which he said was also available on the Commission on Elections’ website.
“Kung peke ito, barilin niyo ako [sa kinauupuan ko],” he said.
On Monday, Poe said she never opened her door to be Vice President Jejomar Binay's running mate in the 2016 elections because honesty and quality of service are important to her. She had also asked Binay to appear before the Senate probe on the corruption allegations hurled against him.
Sought for comment, Poe's camp said the senator returned to the country in late 2004 following the death of her father, actor and then opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.
"The fact remains that Grace Poe and her whole family permanently resided in the country soon after FPJ died in December 2004 to give company to the grieving widow Susan Roces," said lawyer Nelson Victorino, Poe's chief of staff.
Sought for comment, Poe's camp said the senator returned to the country in late 2004 following the death of her father, actor and then opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.
"The fact remains that Grace Poe and her whole family permanently resided in the country soon after FPJ died in December 2004 to give company to the grieving widow Susan Roces," said lawyer Nelson Victorino, Poe's chief of staff.
Poe was never considered
Tiangco said UNA had long been aware of Poe’s supposed failure to meet the residency requirement for running for the two highest offices in the land but Binay cautioned the UNA leadership against releasing the information because of his friendship with the senator.
“The Vice President is very polite. Nung sinabi ko ito (issue of residency) sa kanya, sabi niya, pabayaan mo nang manggaling sa iba yan,” Tiangco said.
However, the lawmaker said he took it upon himself to divulge the information because of Poe’s statement about honesty.
Asked if UNA would have released the information on Poe’s residency had she chosen to become Binay’s running mate, Tiangco said she was never considered by the party in the first place.
“Alam na namin na hindi siya pwede. Noong tinatanong kung kino-consider siya, sumagot si Vice President na ‘oo’ because he wanted to be polite. Kaibigan niya eh,” Tiangco said.
While Tiangco was non-committal on whether UNA would question Poe’s candidacy before the Supreme Court if she decides to run for higher office, the opposition leader said he would personally file a case against her if she does.
“If I’m stopped by my party, I would have to decide whether I would follow or I’ll just leave the party,” Tiangco said.
Residency guidelines, according to the SC
The Supreme Court said, in a decision promulgated on April 24, 2012, that "(t)here is no hard and fast rule to determine a candidates compliance with residency requirement since the question of residence is a question of intention. Still, jurisprudence has laid down the following guidelines: (a) every person has a domicile or residence somewhere; (b) where once established, that domicile remains until he acquires a new one; and (c) a person can have but one domicile at a time.
In that case, the high court overturned the Comelec resolution disqualifying petitioner Rommel Jalosjos from the governorship of Zamboanga Sibugay. "Jalosjos presented the affidavits of next-door neighbors, attesting to his physical presence at his residence in Ipil. These adjoining neighbors are no doubt more credible since they have a better chance of noting his presence or absence than his other neighbors, whose affidavits Erasmo presented, who just sporadically passed by the subject residence," the high court noted.
The SC also said, "it is not disputed that Jalosjos bought a residential lot in the same village where he lived and a fish pond in San Isidro, Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay. He showed correspondences with political leaders, including local and national party-mates, from where he lived. Moreover, Jalosjos is a registered voter of Ipil by final judgment of the Regional Trial Court of Zamboanga Sibugay."
Voter registration info
According to the Commission on Elections' Precinct Finder, Senator Poe registered as a voter on August 31, 2006 at the Sta. Lucia Elementary School in San Juan. She is a voter at Precinct 0349A.
The senator attended her father's funeral on December 22, 2004. Fernando Poe Jr. suffered a stroke and died on December 14, 2004.
GMA News Online is currently ascertaining when Senator Poe started residing in the country either in San Juan, where she is a registered voter, or at the address stated in her certificate of candicacy for senator which is in Corinthian Hill, Barangay Ugong Norte, Quezon City. — RSJ/NB/ELR, GMA News
Voter registration info
According to the Commission on Elections' Precinct Finder, Senator Poe registered as a voter on August 31, 2006 at the Sta. Lucia Elementary School in San Juan. She is a voter at Precinct 0349A.
The senator attended her father's funeral on December 22, 2004. Fernando Poe Jr. suffered a stroke and died on December 14, 2004.
GMA News Online is currently ascertaining when Senator Poe started residing in the country either in San Juan, where she is a registered voter, or at the address stated in her certificate of candicacy for senator which is in Corinthian Hill, Barangay Ugong Norte, Quezon City. — RSJ/NB/ELR, GMA News
