Grace Poe asks Comelec to consolidate appeals of two DQ rulings

The camp of Senator Grace Poe on Thursday formally asked the Commission on Elections' en banc to consolidate her two appeals seeking to reverse separate rulings to cancel her certificate of candidacy for president.

In a six-page motion filed Thursday, Poe also sought a clarificatory hearing should the cases be consolidated.

Poe's lawyer Attorney George Garcia on Wednesday filed for the senator a motion for reconsideration seeking to reverse the decision of the Comelec First Division to cancel her COC.

The division collectively granted three petitions filed by former Senator Francisco Tatad, political science professor Antonio Contreras, and University of the East Law dean Amado Valdez.

Poe earlier asked the en banc to do the same to do same to the Second Division's resolution to grant the petition of lawyer Estrella Elamparo, who also to sought to disqualify her from running for president.

In its latest motion, Poe's camp said that save for the Tatad petition—which it earlier said should have been "dismissed outright"—the rest of the petitions "are based on the same causes of action," such as material misrepresentation the senator allegedly committed in her COC.

It added that these should be consolidated to expedite the proceedings, also in line with the Comelec's December 23 deadline in releasing the official list of candidates in the 2016 elections. —NB, GMA News