SC must resolve Poe cases before 2016 elections

IN A very close (5-4) vote, the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) voted to affirm Sen. Grace Poe’s status as natural-born Filipino.

Of the six senators and three Supreme Court justices comprising the SET, five senators (Vicente Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV) voted in Poe’s favor, while all three justices (Antonio Carpio, Teresita de Castro and Arturo Brion) and one senator (Nancy Binay) voted against her.

As of this writing, the SET has yet to release its written decisions, so it is difficult to dissect the basis relied upon in both the majority decision and the dissenting opinion(s). It will be interesting to conduct an analysis once the decisions are out.

Petitioner Rizalito David has the option to file a motion for reconsideration, but given that such a motion will in all likelihood be denied by the SET, he will expectedly elevate the case to the Supreme Court.

It is in the paramount interest of the nation that the case reach the Supreme Court in the soonest possible time, and that the Court resolve the issue in the fastest way it can. Leaving this case unresolved during the campaign period—worst, during Election Day itself—will wreak havoc on the decision process of the electorate concerning the next president. Leaving the case in limbo will do much damage not only to Senator Poe but to the other presidential candidates as well, and, more importantly, to the nation at large.

If the issue of Senator Poe’s status is left unresolved by the Supreme Court during the campaign period, imagine the anxiety of the people who are inclined to vote for her. They may become tentative in their choice for fear that their votes would be wasted because of the still floating possibility that the Supreme Court would disqualify her from seeking the presidency. It is a very real fear, especially because all the Supreme Court justices who are members of the SET did not vote in her favor. The people inclined to vote for her in 2016 may be led to think that the unanimity among the SET member-justices is a preview of the position that prevails in the Supreme Court, which will have the final say on her status.

Imagine the nightmarish possibility of Senator Poe obtaining the highest number of votes and subsequently being declared by the Supreme Court unqualified to be president. The threat of another revolution would loom darkly on the horizon. Imagine the anger of those citizens whose votes would be rendered void. Imagine the unending questions on the legitimacy of the president who would be installed by default. Imagine the political instability that will plague the nation for an indefinite period of time, and the resulting economic costs.

Imagine the electorate’s crucial redistribution of their votes among the other presidential candidates if a decision disqualifying Senator Poe were issued by the Supreme Court before the elections. The candidate who becomes president can be different depending on whether the disqualification is issued before or after the elections.

Moreover, in a scenario where the case is submitted for the decision of the Supreme Court only after Senator Poe had obtained the highest number of votes, there would be tremendous pressure on the Court to surrender its constitutional power of judicial review and leave the matter as a political issue. In other words, the Supreme Court will be prone to invoke justice and fairness on paper, but reading between the lines, it will have bowed to the voice of the people.

But leaving the issue to be decided by the voice of the people will put the Supreme Court in a bind. In the very recent case of Jejomar Binay Jr. vs. the Ombudsman, the Supreme Court ruled that the voice of the people (i.e., condonation) cannot erase the disqualification of an elected official from holding public office. This was the brand-new principle introduced by the Supreme Court in this case. It ruled that, from now on, the administrative liability of an elected official incurred during a previous term will not be erased by the voice of the people if they reelect him or her to a new term.

If the Supreme Court bows to the “voice of the people” principle in the issue involving Senator Poe, it will virtually rule that the people can erase the lack of qualification of a public official. The issue in the case of Binay Jr. involves the disqualification of public officials and the issue in the Poe case is the qualification of a public official. But qualification and disqualification are two sides of the same coin.

Given these scenarios, it is of the highest national interest that the Supreme Court be given the chance to resolve these issues with finality in the soonest possible time, whatever the result will be.

The filing of a motion for reconsideration should be dispensed with because it is no longer a “speedy and adequate remedy” for the nation. The case should go straight to the Supreme Court.

It is also for these cited reasons that the more important four cases questioning the qualification of Senator Poe to run for president pending in the Commission on Elections be likewise resolved expeditiously by the poll body, so that these cases can be elevated as well to the Supreme Court for review with finality before the 2016 elections.

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