Poe disqualified from presidential race

The Commission on Elections has disqualified Senator Grace Poe from the presidential race after determining that she failed to satisfy constitutional requirements for the elected office.

A decision was issued yesterday by the Philippines’ Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Second Division, which granted a petition by lawyer Estrella Elamparo to dismiss Poe’s candidacy on the basis that she lacks residency and was not proven to be a natural-born Filipino.

Based on the requirements stated under COMELEC rules, candidates running for the presidency must be natural born citizens and residents of the Philippines “for at least ten years preceding the elections”.

Poe does not satisfy the residency requirement, and even tried to hide this fact from the electorate.

“[The] respondent deliberately attempted to mislead or misinform the electorate or hide a fact from them when she supplied the ‘10 years and 11 months’ [answer] to the question in Item No. 7 [concerning] her CoC (certificate of candidacy),” the division, which is made up of COMELEC commissioners Arthur Lim, Al Parreno and Sharif Abbas, said.

The presidential elections are scheduled for May 2016. Poe, according to the tribunal, only became a resident on July 2006 when she applied for dual citizenship — so she will fall two months short of meeting the 10-year residency rule.

Likewise, the division also ruled that Poe, being a “foundling”, has no clear citizenship. The Philippines prescribes to the jus sanguinis and jus

soli principle in determining citizenship. Jus Sanguinis refers to right to citizenship by blood if either mother or father or both are Filipino. Jus

Soli, on the other hand, refers to citizenship attained through having been born in the country. In the case of Poe, it cannot be fully ascertained if her parents are Filipino as she was a “foundling.” According to narratives, she was left at the doorstep of a church in central Philippines.