Supreme Court of the Philippines. FILE PHOTO
SENATOR Grace Poe will appeal to the Supreme Court the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, which upheld her disqualification from the 2016 presidential race, her camp said on Tuesday.
Poe’s spokesman Rex Gatchalian said they have yet to receive a copy of the decision but if the report were true, they would “exhaust all legal remedies if the report was indeed true.”
“We will appeal to the wisdom of the Supreme Court. We know that our arguments are based on laws. Senator Poe is a natural born Filipino and has met the residency requirement,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“We are very confident that in the end, the Justices of the SC will see the merits of our position. At this point, the process has not taken its full course, hence Sen. Poe is still in the running for the Presidency and should be kept in the official list of candidates,” he further said.
Poe earlier expressed doubts that the Comelec en banc will rule in her favor after its first and second divisions decided to disqualify her.
Gathalian said they also find it “very disturbing” that certain personalities inside Comelec have allegedly resorted to leaking important decisions even before the poll body itself promulgates the decision.
“This is highly irregular and we believe that the Comelec should look into this seriously. Protocols and procedures are being breached. That being said the sinister minds behind this leak have one thing in mind – to sow confusion,” he said.
“In addition, if reports are to be believed the timing of the release of the supposed decision is also suspect. Why release the decision in haste when the holiday breaks are upon us. Is it meant to disadvantage Sen. Poe’s legal response?” said the spokesman.