SolGen invokes Harry Potter house Slytherin in David v. Poe comment

You can find Harry Potter fans anywhere, even in the Office of the Solicitor General.

In its 27-page comment on former senatorial candidate Rizalito David's plea against the Senate Electoral Tribunal's decision to junk his case against senator Grace Poe, the OSG compared the basis of David's argument to the sentiments of the wizards of Slytherin House in JK Rowling's highly successful fantasy series.

In Rowling's books, Slytherin House was founded by a wizard who believed that those who are not "pure-bloods" are inferior, and should not be allowed to become wizards themselves.

Poe was adopted as a baby by actors Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces after she was found abandoned in a church in Jaro, Iloilo in 1968.

In the disqualification case he filed last August against Poe seeking to unseat her as Senator, David argued that Poe was not a natural-born citizen as she is a foundling and the identity of her biological parents is not known.

In November, the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) voted 5-4 to junk David's petition.

In its comment, the OSG took a swipe not just at David and the lengths to prove or disprove Poe's Filipino-ness but also, it seems, at the popular Filipino pastime of trumpeting the achievements of celebrities or artists as long as they have some Filipino blood, as well as decisions made regarding the citizenship of certain athletes.

"One must therefore be similarly mindful of the almost-comical scale with which we are scrutinizing the purity of [Poe's] blood, as if purity of blood were a standard for capacity to govern—as if our nation belonged to House Slytherin; and this scrutiny assumes an ironic twist when considered against the backdrop of our aggressive attempts to justify the Filipino citizenship of others just so we may, as a nation, improve our athletic or cultural profile," chided the OSG in point 69 of its response.

On Monday, the OSG informed the Supreme Court that it would be unable to defend the Commission on Elections' own ruling against Poe as it had issued its comment defending the SET's decision. — BM, GMA News