Poe’s camp optimistic Comelec won’t shun SET ruling

Senator Grace Poe’s camp is optimistic that the Commission on Elections will not set aside the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) that declared her a natural-born Filipino citizen.

“We are hopeful the Comelec will defer to the SET ruling, which upheld the natural-born status of Senator Poe, in deciding the election offense case as well as the several petitions to disqualify her from the presidential race,” Poe’s legal counsel, George Garcia, said in a statement on Monday.

 Garcia issued the statement amid the impending resolution of the complaint filed by presidential wannabe Rizalito David before the poll body, accusing Poe of “material misrepresentation” in the certificate of candidacy (COC) she submitted when she ran for senator in 2013.

David claimed that Poe committed an election offense when she allegedly misrepresented herself as a natural-born citizen, a violation which carries a penalty of one to six years of imprisonment, disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right to suffrage.

But Garcia said there was no misrepresentation because Poe is “indeed a natural-born citizen,” a fact that was affirmed by no less than the SET.

The SET, in its Nov. 17 decision, declared that Poe is a natural-born Filipino, which is defined under the 1987 Constitution as a “citizen of the Philippines from birth, without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect [her] Philippine citizenship.”

Garcia said the tribunal declared that Poe, although a foundling, enjoyed in her favor the presumption that she was born of Filipino parents.

He pointed out that under the customary international law, the Philippine Constitution and domestic laws, a foundling found in the Philippines is presumed, in the absence of contrary proof, a natural-born citizen.

The SET, he said, also held that David failed to destroy such presumption by proving that her parents are foreigners.

“The SET has spoken: Senator Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen. Therefore, she is not only eligible to sit as a member of the Senate but also to seek the presidency,” Garcia said.

He had earlier said that they would will file a manifestation with motion to dismiss the election offense case in light of the SET ruling.

READ: Poe lawyer: SET ruling ‘extinguishes’ Comelec case vs Grace

“The SET has properly laid down the basis for the outright dismissal of the election offense case,” Garcia said.

Poe’s legal team, he said, is also set to file on  Dec. 3  their memorandum for the three other disqualification cases filed by former senator Francisco Tatad, political science professor Antonio Contreras and ex-University of the East College of Law Dean Amado Valdez.