Grace Poe’s eligibility may still be questioned — election law expert

An expert on election law said that Senator Grace Poe's eligibility to run for president may still be questioned even after the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted her petition to reverse her disqualification by the Commission on Elections. 

In a text message to GMA News, Atty. Carlo Vistan of the University of the Philippines College of Law said that it is impossible to comment on the legal implications of the decision since the hard copy is still to be released.

"Let us hope that the Supreme Court did not rely on the 'good faith' argument in deciding in favor of Senator Poe because that will leave the real issues on eligibility hanging," he said.

“By ‘good faith’ argument, I mean (it is) that view where it is said that Senator Poe may not have met the qualifications, but she believed in good faith that she is qualified. So, she committed no material misrepresentation and her Certificate of Candidacy should not be cancelled.  If this is the approach that would be adopted, the question of Senator Poe's eligibility may still be questioned later on,” he added.

He said people deserve a decision that directly answers the central issues on citizenship and residence once and for all.

“At this point, all sectors should be accepting the Supreme Court's decision on the case, and how the decision will be accepted depends on how it deals with those central issues,” said Vistan.

Meanwhile, UP College of Law Dean Danny Concepcion expressed agreement with the SC’s decision.

“As an academic, I am very happy because the SC upheld the Constitution. As an advocate of children's rights, I am very happy because the SC upheld the rights of the helpless foundling. As a citizen, I am very happy because the SC proved once more that it is a reliable bastion and champion of justice,” he said.

On the other hand, San Beda College Graduate School of Law Dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino pointed out that the SC decision leaves it up to the Filipino electorate to decide whether Poe should be the next president.

“Knowing that Ms. Poe [h]as renounced her citizenship, forswore allegiance to our Republic, opted to be a permanent resident of a foreign land, and then return[ed] when it suited her to do so, aware that she was not completely truthful about the use of an American passport, and suspicious that she may have used more than one Social Security Number in the US to reap doubly from the benefits accorded social security enrollees," Aquino said.

"The people must now decide whether or not they want her to be president,” he added. — BAP, GMA News