THE Commission on Elections on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition of Senator Grace Poe, saying its decision to disqualify her from the May 2016 presidential race was based on existing laws and jurisprudence.
In a 73-page comment filed by Commissioner Rowena Amelia Guanzon, the Comelec sought the dismissal of Poe’s petition to reject the poll body’s rulings upholding the cancellation of her Certificate of Candidacy for the presidency due to her alleged misrepresentation on her citizenship and her lack of 10-year residency.
Guanzon and Commissioner Christian Robert Lim will be the ones defending the Comelec’s decision before the Supreme Court.
The Comelec said Poe “deliberately and intentionally misrepresented” her qualifications for the presidency. As a result,it asked the high court to lift its temporary restraining orders against its rulings.
The poll body asked the high court to sustain its findings that Poe’s claim that she would have had a total residency of 10 years and 11 months in the country by the election on May 9 this year was “false and misleading.”
“The facts and evidence submitted by the parties and based on existing laws and relevant jurisprudence support the conclusion that [Poe] failed to comply with the 10-year residency requirement for the elective office of President of the Republic of the Philippines,” the Comelec said.
The agency said Poe reacquired her domicile in the country only on Aug. 31, 2006, which meant her residency eligibility would still fall short by about three months.
The Comelec also said Poe’s claim that she is a natural-born citizen was a misrepresentation.
“A foundling does not fall under the definition of citizens under Section 1, Article IV of the 1935 Constitution,” the Comelec said.
“Respondent, thus, cannot qualify as a natural-born citizen. The provision also contains no provision or indication, express or implied, that a foundling is a natural-born citizen and/or qualifies as an exception to the above rule.”