Tatad, Luna deserve to be cited for contempt of court

“Tatad won’t quit, files 1 more plea,” says a news item headline (News, 4/12/16). Former Sen. Francisco Tatad is nagging the Supreme Court one more time to reconsider its 9-6 “final” decision allowing Grace Poe to run for president. He is carrying the voice of the United Nationalist Alliance, the party of presidential candidate Jejomar Binay, now in panic mode with Poe having zoomed past the former in latest surveys. Tatad’s plea has politics written all over it.

Despite the caveat that “no further pleadings shall be entertained,” Tatad’s lawyer, Manuelito Luna, still went ahead to plead with the Court to have another look at their decision. In other words, the two of them chose to ignore the injunction. He and his client should be cited for contempt for sheer stubbornness!  Nonlawyers like us got it: The decision does not preclude anyone from refiling the disqualification case with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal against Poe if she wins; but for now, just let the people decide. Truly, if Poe loses, all this brouhaha would have meant too much ado over

nothing!

Often enough, it’s lack of common sense that causes all this huge backlog in court dockets—aggravated by magistrates who can’t find the better sense to throw away such cases outright!

—RAMON NORMAN TORREFRANCA, [email protected]