Binay on SC ruling on Poe case: Questions on citizenship, residency still unresolved

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Saturday said Supreme Court decision on the disqualification cases filed against independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe still failed to resolve questions about her citizenship and residency.

Speaking to reporters in Batangas, Binay, the standard bearer of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, said the ruling which was formally released Saturday only tackled the issue whether the Commission on Elections committed grave abuse of discretion when it canceled Poe's certificate of candidacy for president and not on her qualifications.

"Hindi dinecide ang qualification niya. Ang pinagdesisyunan doon ay ang abuse of discretion. So, the issue of citizenship and residence ay hindi na-touch iyon," he said.

"At kung iyon ay kukumpirmahin ng Supreme Court sa Baguio, ang desisyon noong una ay hindi rin denicide ang kwalipikasyon, ang citizenship and residence."

[FULL TEXT: Concurring opinions on SC en banc ruling favoring Grace Poe]

[FULL TEXT: Dissenting opinions]

Binay previously referred to Poe as "American girl" in an apparent jab at her citizenship.

Poe lived in the United States and became a naturalized American citizen. She renounced her US citizenship in 2010 after accepting an offer by the Aquino administration to become the chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Poe's citizenship and residency were initially questioned before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and later the Commission on Elections after she filed her certificate of candidacy for president.

Her citizenship was questioned on the ground that as a foundling with no known Filipino parents, she could not claim to being a natural-born citizen, a constitutional requirement for those aspiring for the presidency.

Her residency was also assailed on the basis of the entry she made in the COC she filed when she ran for senator in 2013. The constitution requires a candidate for president to have been a resident of the country for 10 years at the time of the elections. — APG, GMA News