SC affirms ruling FPJ qualified to run

The Supreme Court rejected yesterday "with finality" all efforts to disqualify actor Fernando Poe Jr. from running in the May 10 elections.

In an en banc decision, the high tribunal maintained its 8-5 vote earlier this month declaring Poe a natural-born Filipino citizen and therefore qualified to seek the presidency.

The court said no substantial arguments were raised to justify the actor’s removal from the presidential race.

The ruling sealed the March 3 decision that paved the way for a virtual showdown between Poe and President Arroyo who is seeking a full six-year term in the May polls.

Sought for comment, Mrs. Arroyo told reporters she could not care less about the court’s final ruling.

"I’ve no reaction. I’ve never had any reaction to that. Let the rule of law prevail," she told a news conference in Carigara, Leyte where she led the administration senatorial candidates in a campaign sortie.

"As I have always said in the past, we follow the rule of law and not the rule of threat and intimidation," she said. "(The case) is a triumph of impartial justice and gives us more reason to uphold democracy and civilized governance."

Poe’s spokesman, Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero, said the actor and Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer never doubted the high court would rule in his favor.

"The (disqualification) suit was conceived in sin," Escudero said. " It was meant (not only) to cripple Mr. Poe’s candidacy but to take him out of the race totally. Fortunately, justice triumphed."

Poe has admitted that the case affected his campaign, particularly potential financial backing. The cliffhanger case also unsettled financial markets.

"Definitely we are thankful and relieved that this case is finally settled," Escudero said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected the petitions to disqualify Poe on grounds he was not a natural-born Filipino, a constitutional requirement for anyone running for president.

The March 3 ruling also eased fears that the actor’s large fan base would create chaos, even as the petitioners filed separate motions for reconsideration seeking a reversal of the ruling.

Lawyers led by Victorino Fornier and Ma. Jeanette Tecson, along with Felix Desiderio Jr. and Gertrudo de Leon insisted the high court erred when it failed to acknowledge that Poe was an illegitimate child who should follow the citizenship of his American mother.

Their disqualification petitions stemmed from the ruling made by the Commission on Elections last month in dismissing the petition filed by Fornier.

The Comelec ruled Fornier failed to prove that Poe was not a natural-born Filipino, and allowed the actor to campaign. Fornier then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court reiterated its earlier ruling that the 1935 Constitution, which would apply in the case of Poe, "confers citizenship to all persons whose fathers are Filipino citizens regardless of whether such children are legitimate or illegitimate."

"The basic issues raised... have been passed upon by this court and no substantial arguments were presented to warrant the reversal of the questioned decision," the high court said in a resolution issued in Baguio City.

The petition alleged that although Poe was born in the Philippines 64 years ago, his mother Bessie Kelley was American and his father Allan Fernando Poe Sr. was Spanish, and that the actor had to take his mother’s citizenship because he was born out of wedlock.

The high court acknowledged that Poe was born out of wedlock to Kelley and Poe. But it ruled that the film star’s father was Filipino because his grandfather, Lorenzo, "albeit a Spanish subject, was not shown to have declared his allegiance to Spain by virtue of the Treaty of Paris and the Philippine Bill of 1902."

The decision, penned by Justice Jose Vitug, was heavily influenced by the legal opinions of four amici curiae (friends of the court) who all said the Constitution does not distinguish the status of a child in granting his citizenship as long as filiation could be proven.

All the four resource people — retired justice Vicente Mendoza, constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, former dean of the University of the Philippines-College of Law Merlin Magallona and UP Law professor Ruben Balane — were of the opinion that Poe is a natural-born Filipino and qualified to run in the elections.

The petitioners, however, noted that five of the justices made a dissenting opinion and voted to grant the petition of Fornier on grounds that Poe made material misrepresentation in filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) before the Comelec.

Fornier said the movie star knew very well that he was not a natural-born Filipino but still claimed to be one in filing his COC.

Tecson and other co-petitioners urged the court to reconsider the March 3 ruling by claiming an erroneous application of the law in retroactively applying it in the case of Poe.

They all claimed the court should not have resorted to "curing (Poe’s) questionable status," by being too lenient on evidence.

Tecson and the other petitioners said the high court should have required stricter and more exacting proof from Poe since he is seeking the highest elected post in the land on May 10, not merely to clarify his citizenship.

Efforts to disqualify Poe, a close friend of ousted President Joseph Estrada, had set off tensions between Poe’s camp and Mrs. Arroyo’s, which was accused of instigating the challenge. The President repeatedly denied the allegations.

Recent polls put Mrs. Arroyo and Poe neck-and-neck in a close battle for a six-year term.

Poe has no political track record but boasts of massive support from the movie-loving poor for his roles as a champion of the oppressed who lets his fists and guns do the talking. - With reports from Artemio Dumlao, Nikko Dizon