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IF THERE'LL BE NO TRO WITHIN THE DAY

Grace Poe should be dropped from list of candidates –Tatad


Former Sen. Francisco Tatad has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enforce the decision of its First Division to cancel the certificate of candidacy for president of Sen. Grace Poe.

Tatad also asked the poll body to drop Poe from the official list of candidates for the 2016 polls for allegedly committing "material misrepresentation" when she claimed in her COC that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and has resided in the Philippines for at least 10 years.

In a four-page petition to be filed Monday, Tatad said based on the Comelec Rules of Procedure, a decision such as the one released by the Comelec en banc last Wednesday becomes final and executory after five days.

"If at the close of office hours today no Temporary Restraining Order or similar writs of restraint is issued by the Supreme Court upon application of the respondent, by virtue of the aforementioned rule, the decision or resolution of the Commission En Banc shall become final and executory the following day (December 29, 2015)," the motion read.

It added: "That being said, the enforcement of the decision or resolution of the Commission's First Division canceling the Certificate of Candidacy for President of the respondent becomes a matter of course."

Poe's camp sought relief from the Supreme Court on Monday, the end of the five-day period after her lawyer George Garcia personally received a copy of the Comelec en banc resolutions that upheld the decisions to cancel her COC last Wednesday.

In an interview, Tatad's lawyer Manuelito Luna said the petition aims to remind the Comelec on the matter.

He added: "More than 100 names [of candidates] have been delisted, so what's the difference? We are just trying to show the public -- the country -- that we uphold the equality of persons and things and circumstances under the law."

"I also have clients whose names were dropped from the list and it would not be fair on my part if I will not also fight for equality under the law," Luna added.

Poe's lawyer, Garcia, said they "are not bothered at all" by Tatad's motion.

"The filing of Sen. Kit Tatad of a motion is just a reiteration of what the Comelec has said," he said in a television interview. —KBK, GMA News

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