Supreme Court throws out Tatad’s ‘prohibited’ second appeal vs Grace Poe

BAGUIO CITY — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday threw out the “prohibited” second appeal of former senator Francisco S. Tatad against its final decision to allow Senator Grace Poe to run for president.

During its last summer en banc session, the high court denied Mr. Tatad’s second motion for reconsideration ( MR) for “lack of merit and for being a prohibited pleading under the Rules,” SC Public Information Office Chief Theodore O. Te said in a briefing.

Not only that, the high court also ordered the motion “expunged from the records of this case.”

To recall, Mr. Tatad, through lawyer Manuelito R. Luna, embarked on a last-ditch attempt to contest Ms. Poe’s candidacy by filing a second MR on April 11.

This defied the pronouncement of the SC’s April 5 resolution that it will no longer accept new pleadings after it junked the appeals against the senator and ruled in her favor with finality.

Mr. Tatad contested the SC’s March 8 decision overturning the Commission on Elections’ cancellation of Ms. Poe’s candidacy. He said the issue of her qualifications was not actually settled, because it was not settled by a majority of the justices during the court’s deliberations.

He had banked on Section 3, Rule 15 of the Internal Rules of the Supreme Court, which provides that the high court can still entertain a second MR “in the higher interest of justice” upon approval by two-thirds of the justices.

Sought for comment, Mr. Luna said: “We are not surprised. No amount of legal maneuvering can change the fact that the majority committed a grave abuse of discretion and dishonored the Constitution. We just hope history will not judge the majority harshly.”

But Ms. Poe’s spokesperson, Valenzuela Mayor Rexlon T. Gatchalian said that “at this point it’s time to put their questions to rest and accept the decision of the SC.”

“It’s time to focus on platforms — what Gobyernong May Puso can do for the people,” Mr. Gatchalian said.

The SC, in its March 8 decision as affirmed by its April 5 resolution, said that the Commission on Elections committed grave abuse of discretion by ignoring Ms. Poe’s evidence and ruling her disqualified without a prior court finding. It also held that Ms. Poe is a naturalborn citizen and a resident of at least 10 years, and thus qualified to run for president.