SET junks disqualification case vs. Grace Poe

 

The nine-member Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) on Tuesday denied the petition to disqualify Senator Grace Poe over her citizenship issue.

The tribunal, composed of six senators and three Supreme Court justices,  voted 5-4 in favor of Poe, who is seeking the presidency in the 2016 elections.

The disqualification case was filed by Rizalito David, a defeated senatorial candidate in the 2013 elections who said Poe, a foundling, is not a natural-born Filipino.

Senators Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, and Bam Aquino voted to dismiss David's petition.

Those who voted in favor of the petition were Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and Arturo Brion and Sen. Nancy Binay, whose father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, is also vying for the presidency next year.

David still has the option to move within 10 days for the reconsideration of the SET decision. If David files an appeal, the tribunal will reconvene in early December to decide on the matter.

The SET will have to promulgate its final decision before December 10,  the deadline of the printing of the ballots for the 2016 elections.