Senator Grace Poe. FILE PHOTO
The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), hearing the disqualification case filed against Senator Grace Poe, has agreed to come up with a decision on November 5, a member-senator said on Friday.
“November 5 was the last agreement in the tribunal,” Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said in a text message when sought to react to Senator President Franklin Drilon’s repeated call for the tribunal to immediately resolve the case.
Drilon expressed hopes that the tribunal would be able to come up with a decision before the filing of certificates of candidacy (CoC) on October 12 and 16.
READ: Drilon presses SET on Poe
Meanwhile, Poe’s camp has no plans to call for a change in the composition of the SET despite questions raised against its chairman, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
1BAP Representative Silvestre Bello III, a former justice secretary, earlier said that Carpio should inhibit himself from the case because of his association with a lawyer of the administration’s bet, former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
READ: Carpio ties to Roxas through the Firm hit
Asked if the senator would initiate such move against Carpio, Poe’s lawyer, George Garcia, answered in the negative.
“Wala po (There is none). We will not inhibit anybody,” Garcia said in a text message. “We believe in the integrity and independence of the tribunal as well as the fairness and justness of its members.”
Sotto also saw no need for any members of the SET to inhibit from the proceeding, saying that “links with candidates cannot be avoided.”
“It’s how you conduct yourself, that’s important,” he said. Maila Ager/IDL