‘We had foundlings in mind’ – Sen. Aquino

Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV said senator-members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) did not vote as they did to save a beleaguered colleague but had the rights of foundlings in mind when they voted to junk the disqualification case against Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares Tuesday.

Aquino, a member of the Liberal Party (LP) said there are thousands of foundlings in the Philippines.

Voting 5 – 4, the SET junked the disqualification petition filed by lawyer and losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David.

Those who voted to junk the David petition aside from Aquino were Senators Cynthia Villar, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Loren Legarda and Pia Cayetano.

Those who voted in favor of the David petition were Sen. Ma. Lourdes “Nancy” Binay, Justice Antonio Carpio, who chairs the SET, and Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and Associate Justice Arturo Brion, members.

No pressure from LP Aquino is supporting Mar Roxas’ presidential bid, while Binay’s father, Vice president Jejomar Binay is following Poe’s lead in the presidential surveys.

Explaining their vote, Aquino in a radio interview said, “we were not thinking of Sen. Poe. We were thinking of the possible implication of the decision to the thousands of children being abandoned in our country and that was the basis of some of us in the SET.”

“Others expect that when you are in politics, all your decision are guided by politics. But sometimes, you need to use your head, using your principles, your conscience and the trust given to you by the people,” the senator added.

And in fairness to his party mates, Aquino said nobody tried to influence him in making a decision.

“Ang pagiging daang matuwid ng aming partido, hindi po ito slogan lang. Ito po’y totoo, ito po’y nasa puso naming lahat at kung nasa daang matuwid ka, talagang kailangan iyong prinsipyo mo at konsensiya ang gagamitin mo (Our party’s straight path advocacy is not just a mere slogan. This is real, this is in the hearts of all of us in the party and if you are really in the straight path then you should be principled and you should be guided by your conscience),” said Aquino.

Not yet over Despite winning by a thread, Poe acknowledged that her legal fight is far from over.

“This is not yet over, but this is a good showing,” Poe said when sought for comment on the outcome of the SET voting Tuesday.

Though barriers have been cleared, Poe admitted she is still uncertain about her future as she is still facing various disqualification cases at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

But she expressed confidence that she will be able to hurdle the cases since she is on the side of truth.

She called the decision a triumph for foundlings in the country and for the more than 20 million Filipinos who voted to make her the top senator for 2013.

She expressed her gratitude to the five senators who voted to dismiss the disqualification case against her on the basis of her being a foundling.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, spokesperson for the Team Galing at Puso tandem of Poe and her running mate Sen. Chiz Escudero said they welcome David’s move to question the SET ruling before the high court.

“We will respect his prerogative to do so. We are ready to face whatever legal action that he will take,” Gatchalian said.

First impression Meanwhile, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has no other recourse but to dismiss all disqualification cases against Sen. Poe involving her citizenship following the decision of the SET.

This is because the petitions for cancellation of Poe’s certificate of candidacy at the Comelec pertaining to her citizenship are anchored on the issue of whether or not she made a “deliberate attempt to mislead the voters on her qualification” when she stated in her certificate of candidacy that she is a “natural-born Filipino citizen”.

"Now that the sole constitutional body, the SET, had declared her to be a natural-born Filipino citizen and considering the various opinions of known constitutionalists and legal experts that she is a natural-born Filipino, it could not be said that she made a “deliberate attempt to mislead the voters” of her being a natural-born Filipino citizen," Macalintal said in a statement.

"With more reason if we consider the fact that hers is a “case of first impression” which means no case has ever been decided by the SC on the nationality of a foundling in the Philippines, hence, she could not be accused of a deliberate attempt to mislead the voters of her citizenship there being no jurisprudence yet on the issue of a foundling’s citizenship," added Macalintal.

Poe is facing five disqualification cases before the Comelec

Residency issue However, the poll lawyer said the issue on the senator's residency should still be decided by the Comelec as this is not that difficult considering the series of SC jurisprudence on the matter.

"Since even foreigners can be “residents” of the Philippines, those years when Poe resided in the Philippines from May 2005 when she was still an American citizen, until she took her Oath of Allegiance in July 2006 to reacquire Philippine citizenship, should be added to her “period of her residency” in the Philippines," Macalintal said.

"This is so because the SC ruled that “residency is not dependent on citizenship” in that “the loss of one does not necessarily result in the loss of the other.” Thus, counting her residence in the Philippines in 2005 when she was still an American citizen and the period of her residency since she took her Oath of Allegiance in July 2006 till the May 2016 elections, she has fully complied with the 10-year residency requirement to qualify as candidate for President of the Philippines as provided under the constitution," he added.