David asks SC to reverse SET decision on Poe disqualification case

Losing 2013 senatorial bet Rizalito David on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court reverse the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) dismissing the disqualification case filed against Senator Grace Poe.

In a 72 page petition for certiorari filed Tuesday, David, through counsel Manuelito Luna asked the high court to issue a restraining order stopping the implementation of the SET ruling while their petition is pending.

“The Honorable Court should issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to restrain or enjoin the enforcement of the aforesaid patently void decision,” David said in his petition.

David said the five senators who ruled in favor of Poe voted not on the basis of existing laws but due to political considerations.

He added that the Senators Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar, Bam Aquino, and Pia Cayetano “clearly, misinterpreted the Constitution, the laws, procedural rules, and jurisprudence in giving effect to non-binding international laws and in acknowledging the flawed theory of citizenship by legal fiction.”

Those who dissented were SC Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, and Senator Nancy Binay, whose father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, is also vying for the presidency in the 2016 elections.

David took note of the opinions of the three justices.

Brion said there is no evidence existed to show that Poe is a natural-born citizen, one of the major requirements for an aspirant to be allowed to run for President.

Carpio and De Castro, on the other hand, believed that while Poe is a Filipino citizen, she is not natural born because she acquired her nationality by legal fiction.

Poe is a foundling from Jaro, Iloilo and was later adopted by the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and actress Susan Roces.