No surrender, Tatad to appeal Poe ruling anew

Former senator Francisco Tatad will once again question Sen. Grace Poe's eligibility to run for president despite the Supreme Court's (SC) final ruling on the matter, his lawyer said Saturday.

Tatad's counsel, Manuelito Luna, said they will file on Monday, April 12, a second motion for reconsideration for the high tribunal to reconsider its decision to reverse the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) cancellation of Poe's certificate of candidacy for president.

Luna said the motion will contain arguments against the "constitutionality of the findings in the April 5 resolution" disposing the appeal filed by Tatad, lawyer Estrella Elamparo, political science professor Antonio Contreras, former University of the East law dean Amado Valdez and the Commission on Elections. 

A second motion for reconsideration is considered a prohibited pleading and it can only be entertained if two thirds of the 15-man SC or 10 justices would grant it "in the higher interest of justice," according to Section 3, Rule 15 of the Internal Rules of the SC. 

Luna said the Court failed to come up with a majority ruling on Poe's qualifications.

[Read: SC justices explain votes on Grace Poe DQ case]

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

[FULL TEXT: Dissenting opinion] 

"As in the previous ruling, the Court anomalously and in utter defiance of the fundamental law let Poe run for the highest post. Clearly, the latest ruling has no doctrinal value and may even be void," he said in a text message. 

The ruling sparked controversy when Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said only seven out of 15 justices opined that Poe, a foundling, was a natural-born Filipino, which is one less vote to constitute a majority. 

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, however, said there was a clear majority since seven out of 12 justices believed that Poe was a natural-born. 

She excluded the three justices — Mariano del Castillo Diosdado Peralta and Benjamin Caguioa — who refrained from voting  on the issue.

On the issue of residency, the count was 7-6-2 in favor of Poe. Caguiao and Peralta abstained on the matter. 

Voting 9 to 6, the SC said the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it barred Poe from running on the ground that she made false statements on her nationality and period of residence in the Philippines.

Penned by Associate Justice Jose Perez, the SC ruled that the poll body's resolutions against Poe's candidacy "are, one and all, deadly diseased with grave abuse of discretion from root to fruits."  

The SC said Poe was a natural-born Filipino citizen and has complied with the 10-year residency requirement, having been an actual resident of the Philippines since she came back from the United States on May 24, 2005.  — APG, GMA News