Poe allies fear ‘dribble’ of disqualification case

MANILA, Philippines - Allies of Sen. Grace Poe in the House of Representatives expressed fears that her disqualification case pending before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) would be “dribbled” until the 2016 electoral campaign to erode her popularity.

A senior administration lawmaker, who declined to be identified, said the SET calendar indicates that deliberations on the disqualification case filed by defeated senatorial bet Rizalito David could extend until February next year shortly before the start of the national campaign.

 Poe’s lawyers reportedly are pushing for an early resolution of her case as she is confident she can resolve the citizenship and residency issues raised against her by David.

 The senator has been topping presidential and vice presidential surveys and is expected to announce her bid to be president in the coming days.

 The SET is headed by senior Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and its members are Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion; and Senators Loren Legarda, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar and Nancy Binay.

 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III meanwhile called on senators in the SET, who may be “conflicted,” to voluntarily inhibit from deliberations in the case.

The senators who belong to the SET are from various political parties, including the Liberal Party, which are supporting presidential aspirants other than Poe, Bello said.

Deputy Speaker and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao said he believes Poe can easily defend herself before the SET.

Aggabao said David has burden of presenting evidence to disprove Poe’s claim of being a natural born citizen.

“I think this should be a straightforward case. I don’t even think that this would entail presentation of extensive evidence because most of the facts are already established, like she was a foundling,” Aggabao said.

“I think the only issue here would be legal. What is the status of a foundling? That should not be a difficult thing for the SET to decide and to decide very soon,” he said.