With the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Senator Grace Poe to overturn the Commission on Elections’ cancellation of her Certificate of Candidacy, we potentially have now a dangerous precedent for the presidency.
Petitioners wanting to disqualify the wannabe president are said to be mulling over filing a motion for reconsideration as soon as the ruling becomes official. Manuelito Luna, counsel of former Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad, reportedly said that the SC ruling bastardized the Constitution. Dean Amado Valdez of the University of the East, who is also one of the petitioners on the side of Luna, reportedly said he would also file an appeal based on what he sees as an unconstitutional ruling that betrays the public trust. Lawyer Estrella Elamparo was said to be shocked with the decision, as she was sure that the law was clear on the rules on the citizenship and residency requirements.
While the public is waiting to read the SC decision at length, everyone who saw the Comelec’s ruling to cancel Senator Poe’s Certificate of Candidacy which adhered to the letter of the law feels that the decision doesn’t seem to add up. Nine judges voted in favor versus six: the nine were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza, Marvic Leonen, Francis Jardeleza and Benjamin Caguioa; the six were Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Mariano del Castillo, Arturo Brion, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Bienvenido Reyes.
Curiously, four of the nine were President BS Aquino appointees: Sereno, Leonen, Jardeleza, and Caguioa. Of course we should always assume that the judges, regardless of which President appointed them, would maintain impartiality for any party and loyalty to the Constitution. If they would be impartial, they would only be so for their adherence to the laws of the land. But one cannot deny that the voting pattern invites curiosity enough to kill all the cats on Taft Avenue.
Another thing that doesn’t seem to add up is how the judges ruled on the residency issue, which, again, would only be revealed once the decision is made available. According to Senator Poe’s 2013 CoC for senator, she would be resident for six and a half years as of the 2013 elections, and therefore should only be a resident for nine and a half years by the 2016 elections. The requirement for a Philippine president is residency in the country for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election. Rounding up Senator Poe’s numbers would be a distortion of this rule, something that should never be seen nor even thought of in the country’s legal history.
While we cannot question the intellectual capacity of our judges when it comes to their profession, we might have to start asking if their lessons in basic arithmetic are still intact. It appears that some justices do not know how to count from one to 10, but they know how to count from one to millions.
As we wait with bated breath to read the SC decision at length, I cannot help but be saddened with this development setting a bad precedent for those who will pervert the rule of law for political aspirations. I dread the prospect of a president who abandoned her citizenship, only to return when it is economically and politically convenient. I dread the prospect of a First Family that is made up mostly of non-Filipinos. I dread the prospect of the Supreme Court weakening the spirit of the Constitution, not just because of possible flawed arithmetic, but with inconsistencies following its decisions on the de Leon and Arnado cases. Again, things just don’t add up.
