The Supreme Court (SC) meets this afternoon (Jan.

19) to hear oral arguments on two cases that challenged the

rulings of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which disqualified Sen. Grace Poe as a presidential candidate for
not being a natural-born Filipino and for lack of the required 10-year residency.
Earlier this morning, in its full court session since its holiday recess, the high court will meet on several other election
cases, mostly those filed by party-list groups whose registration and accreditation had been rejected by the Comelec.
A marathon debate on the Poe case is expected among the representatives of the Comelec, Poes lawyers, and
those who filed the disqualification complaints that had been acted upon favorably by the poll body.
The SC had earlier said it will rule expeditiously on the merits of Poes two petitions in consideration of the timeline of
the Comelecs preparations for the May elections.
While legal sources said the pleadings filed by Poe, the complainants against her, and the Comelec would be
sufficient for the SC to render a ruling, the holding of the oral arguments was decided to enable the justices to ask
questions that are not covered in the documents.
In many decided cases, particularly the controversial ones, the SC justices used relevant information that came out
during oral arguments in handing down their decisions.
Article VII, Section 2 of the Constitution provides that no person may be elected President unless he is a naturalborn citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the
election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election.
On December 23, the Comelec as a full commission (en banc) with all seven members in session dismissed Poes
petitions against the rulings of the poll bodys first and second divisions which cancelled her certificate of candidacy
(COC) for president.
In a 5-2 vote, the Comelec en banc upheld the ruling of its first division that disqualified Poe on questions of
citizenship and residency. The petitioners in the disqualification cases were Tatad, La Salle professor Antonio
Contreras, and former University of the East Law Dean Amado Valdez.
The Comelec en banc, voting 5-1-1, also affirmed the ruling of its second division that cancelled Poes COC for her
failure to meet the 10-year residency required by the Constitution. This case had been filed by lawyer Estrella
Elamparo.
In a resolution released last week, the SC spelled out the flow of the oral arguments and the issues, both procedural
and substantive, that would be tackled by the opposing parties in the two cases.
The same resolution included the extension of the temporary restraining orders (TROs) issued by the SC last Dec. 28
against the Comelec on the two cases. The SC said the TROs were extended only for the purpose of not rendering
the cases moot and academic.
Under the guidelines, Poe, as petitioner in the two cases, will be the first to present her arguments through her
lawyer. She is given 10 minutes to do so.
Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, while he had manifested he will not represent the Comelec in the two cases, was also
given 10 minutes to argue as tribune of the people.

The Comelec will present its arguments, also in 10 minutes, followed by private respondents (complainants against
Poe in the Comelec) Estrella Elamparo, Francisco Tatad, Antonio Contreras, and Amado Valdez who all have a total
of 20 minutes.

How Comelec commissioners voted on Grace Poe's case

All commissioners rule that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino citizen, contrary to
the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal on a separate case
MANILA, Philippines The poll commissioners have spoken for the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, presidential aspirant Grace Poe is
not a natural-born Filipino and is not eligible to run for president in 2016.
Voting 5-2 on the First Division case and 5-1 on the Second Division case, the en
banc cancelled Poe's certificate of candidacy for president just before the
holidays.
While there were 2 dissenters Chairman Andres Bautista and Commissioner
Christian Robert Lim this does not automatically mean they agree that Poe is a
natural-born Filipino.
In fact, when it comes to her citizenship, all 7 members of the en banc voted
against Poes position that she holds a natural-born status as a Filipino citizen.
Interesting, but why?
It's because citizenship is just one part of the 5 issues they had to settle involving
the disqualification cases against the senator. They tackled:
Comelec's jurisdiction on Poe's qualifications
Poe's residency
Poe's natural-born status/citizenship

 whether she deliberately misled the public on her residency and citizenship
whether the cancellation of her COC, as the First and Second divisions
ruled, should be upheld
Under the 1987 Constitution, natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of
the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect
their Philippine citizenship.
Bautista, in his separate opinion on the First Division ruling against Poe, said the
mere fact that Poe regained her Philippine citizenship via Republic Act Number
9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act, it means she had to
perform an act to re-acquire it. Given the foregoing, there can only be one
interpretation of Republic Act 9225 that will do justice to the constitutional
requirements for natural-born citizenship: a former Filipino who reacquired
Philippine citizenship should be deemed to be a naturalized Filipino citizen, the
chairman said in his separate opinion.
But why did Bautista vote against Poe's disqualification if he believes she is not
natural-born?
Baustista explained that he does not believe Poe intentionally misled the public
when she indicated in her COC that she is a natural-born Filipino and that she
had complied with the 10-year residency requirement for a presidential candidate.
Accordingly, while I find that the statements of Respondent as obtained in her
2016 COC regarding citizenship and residency are false, I do not believe that
there was a deliberate intent on Respondents part to mislead, misinform or hid a
fact which would otherwise render a candidate ineligible. Hence, I vote to dismiss
the Petition, he said in his 53-page separate opinion on the Second Division
case.

How the Comelec voted

The Comelec en banc settled 5 issues that were raised in 2 disqualification cases
against the presidential race front runner.
The case in the First Division included the consolidated petitions filed by former
Senator Francisco Tatad, ProfessorAntonio Contreras, and University of the East
Law DeanAmado Valdez. Members of the First Division are commissioners
Rowena Guanzon, Christian Robert Lim, and Luie Tito Guia.
The Second Division case, meanwhile, focused on the petition filed by petitioner
Estrella Elamparo. The commissioners in the Second Division are Al Parreo,
Arthur Lim, and Sheriff Abbas.
As chairman, Bautista is the only one not belonging to a division. This means his
vote, until the last minute, remained unknown to the public.
Some commissioners are accused of being allies of the administration, as they
were appointed by President Benigno Aquino III, and some of them with links to
Aquino's presidential bet Manuel Roxas II of the Liberal Party, Poe's opponent in
next year's presidential elections.
In the final vote on whether to ultimately cancel Poe's certificate of candidacy, no
commissioner changed his or her previous decision. Bautista, in the end, voted in
favor of Poe together with Christian Lim.
Lim, who earlier voted against the cancellation at the division level, retained his
vote. He, however, opted to inhibit himself from the en banc decision on the
Second Division case, as Elamparo was an associate at his former law office.
(READ:Comelec commissioner explains vote in favor of Grace Poe)

While Guias final vote stayed the same, he changed his mind only on Poes
residency, saying that Poe's appeal made him re-evaluate his position. He now
said Poe met the 10-year requirement for a presidential candidate.
After said re-examination, I find that indeed Respondent can be considered to
have effectively transferred domicile from the US to the Philippines as of May
2005," Guia said in his separate opinion on the en banc decision on the First
Division case.
Citing jurisprudence, he added citizenship and residency should be treated
separately, as what Poe argues.
"One can be a permanent resident of a country even when he or she is a foreign
citizen. Re-acquisition of former citizenship is not a condition for one to be
deemed to have re-established his/her domicile in the country," he added.
Following this decision, Guia also voted in favor of Poe when he said Poe did not
intentionally mislead the public on her residency status. Bautista shared the
same view.
For citizenship, Al Parreo maintained his decision in the Second Division level
that ruled Poe did not deliberately deceive the public. The Second Division earlier
said Poe as a foudling just naturally believed she was a natural-born Filipino,
without intention to misinform the people. Bautista also shared the same opinion
that there was no intent to deceive.
Christian Lim, for his part, refused to vote with the en banc on whether Poe
intentionally deceived the public on her citizenship status. He earlier claimed the
3 consolidated cases lacked merit and should have been dismissed early on for
technical issues.
Guanzon, Abbas, and Arthur Lim remained steadfast in their votes against the
neophyte senator.