SENATOR Grace Poe on Friday asked the Commission on Elections to dismiss the complaint filed against her by losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David over her alleged lack of residency when she ran in the 2013 senatorial race.
In her counter-affidavit, the senator stressed she has not wrongfully committed or omitted to do any act to merit this case, and “to evidence further that in exercise of her rights and the performance of her duties, they have acted with justice, given everyone his due and observed honesty and good faith.”
She also asked the Comelec to spare its office the hardship and anxiety of a public trial and asked that the complaint be outrightly dismissed because David is purportedly guilty of willful and deliberate forum shopping.
Poe cited the earlier ruling of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, the sole judge of the qualifications of senators, that her residence qualification as senator can no longer be questioned.
In his complaint, David told the Comelec Poe violated the Omnibus Election Code due to the falsehood on her residency. He argued that since the senator was an American citizen since 2001 up to today, she cannot establish or could have established residence or domicile in the Philippines.
He also noted that Poe’s assertion in her certificate of candidacy for senator was supposedly false because being a foundling, she does not fall under any of the five categories of Philippine citizens under the Constitution. He said the senator was merely moved by an intent or desire to mislead the Filipino electorate.
Through her lawyer, George Erwin Garcia, Poe said the core issue involved in the complaint, also filed against her by David with the SET over her citizenship, is a “logical antecedent and intimately related” to the complaint with the poll body.
She said the SET’s decision will determine if the instant case may proceed since it is the sole judge of the qualifications of the senators.
SET is scheduled to hand down a decision on the issue on Nov. 17, but senators want it to be postponed at a latter date, citing the need for all members to review all the arguments presented by both sides.
The nine-man SET, chaired by Senior Associate Justice Antonio, is also composed of six senators – Vicente Sotto III, Cynthia Villar, Loren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, Bam Aquino and Nancy Binay.
Sotto insisted the decision should be reset because it is not yet ready. Besides, he said Legarda is so busy with the hearing of the budget for 2016 being the chairperson of the Senate Finance committee.
Poe noted that if the SET rules that she is a natural born Filipino citizen, David should no longer allowed to argue that she misrepresented her citizenship in her certificate of candidacy for senator.
But if the SET rules that she is not a natural born Filipino, Poe insisted it doesn’t automatically follow that she committed an election offense because the lack of criminal intent or good faith would still be an issue.