Comelec lawyers: Let SET decide Poe disqualification case

MANILA, Philippines – Lawyers with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recommended to the commission en banc that the pending complaint to unseat Senator Grace Poe is not within its jurisdiction. 

Instead, the Comelec law department said the jurisdiction on the case questioning Poe’s eligibility to run last 2013 should be with the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) due to the timing of the complaint.

“Na-proclaim na siya eh (She had already been proclaimed)…in which case, jurisdiction now belongs to the Senate Electoral Tribunal in her capacity as a senator,” explained Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista of the said recommendation in a press conference Tuesday, September 29.

Bautista explained that the en banc has yet to issue its ruling on the case before Comelec.  

A recommendation by the Comelec law department does not represent the decision of the en banc.

The newly-appointed Comelec chairman said the election commission will, however, have “primary jurisdiction” over any similar case that may be filed against Poe in relation to her 2016 presidential bid.

“That will be acted upon if a case will be filed against her,” he said. 

He warned against prematurely judging any such case, saying “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

The pending complaint against Poe was filed by former senatorial candidate Rizalito David a few days after he filed a petition before the SET raising the same issues.

Poe was allegedly ineligible to run in 2013 as she was supposedly a naturalized citizen and not a natural-born citizen as required by the Constitution. She also used an American passport in her travel, David alleged. 

SET is set to release its decision on the petition by November, a month before names in election ballots would be finalized by Comelec. The decision will be appealable before the the Supreme Court (SC). 

Poe is the frontrunner among presidential contenders for 2016, based on recent surveys.

Comelec can disqualify Poe

In his complaint before Comelec, David said Poe materially misrepresented her years of residency and her alleged identity as a naturalized citizen in her certificate of candidacy in 2013.

David argued that this is an election offense under Section 262 in relation to Section 74, which provides the contents of a certificate of candidacy, of the Omnibus Election Code.

According to the said portion of the law, “the certificate of candidacy shall state” the candidate “is not a permanent resident or immigrant to a foreign country.”

Despite the pending cases, Bautista said there is nothing preventing Poe to file her certificate of candidacy by October.

Asked about a hypothetical scenario in case the decision issued by the SET goes against Poe’s favor and is affirmed by the SC, Bautista said the Comelec would consider these decisions in its deliberations.

Speaking in general terms, Bautista said the law grants Comelec the power to disqualify a candidate.

“What’s provided for is that the Comelec on its own or motu propio or upon a case being filed can act upon issues regarding qualifications,” he said. – Rappler.com