Public urged: Respect Comelec ruling on Poe, Duterte DQ cases

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Franklin Drilon, a stalwart of the Liberal Party, rejected proposals to bring the disqualification cases against Sen. Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte before the bar of public opinion.

Drilon reiterated over the weekend that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) must uphold the country’s election laws and its regulations for a fair, credible and orderly election next year.

“We have rules which are necessary for an orderly society,” said Drilon, who is supporting LP bet Manuel Roxas II.

Drilon downplayed the call of former President Fidel Ramos to leave the disqualification cases against presidential aspirants in the hands of the people.

“If we just say that we let the people decide, then we might as well throw all the rules out of the window, let’s discard all the rules, and let everybody run,” Drilon said.

The Senate president maintained that there are rules that govern the conduct of elections in the country, which the Comelec is duty-bound to observe and implement. 

He added that these rules are in accordance with the Constitution that provides clear guidelines regarding the conduct of elections in the country.

“We have basic rules which in any civilized society will be necessary in order to prevent disorder. So if you are saying just let the people decide, precisely there are rules in order that people can rationally decide,” Drilon said.

He pointed out that it is due to these rules and regulations that the Comelec has to validate every certificate of candidacy (COC) filed before it and prevent nuisance candidates from running.

“Why do we disqualify people because they are nuisance candidates? Because we have certain rules to follow,” he added.

He pointed out that if the Comelec will go along with the let-the-people-decide philosophy, then the poll body erred in voiding the COCs filed by the other 125 presidential aspirants.

“If we are to apply the let-the-people-decide philosophy on the disqualification cases against Sen. Grace Poe and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, then the Comelec should have also allowed ‘Archangel Lucifer,’ ‘Kuya P,’ ‘Kapitan Kuryente,’ and all other individuals who filed their COCs to run for president,” Drilon said.

“We cannot provide exemptions to individuals under our laws and regulations while denying the same to others. If we leave the case of Poe and Duterte in the hands of the people to decide, then we should also ask them to decide on the fate of the 125 nuisance candidates who want to run for president. A situation like that is unacceptable,” he added.

There are pending disqualification cases against Poe and Duterte at the Comelec. 

Poe hurdled the quo warranto petition filed against her before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) when members voted in her favor. 

But the Comelec’s first and second divisions, ruling separately, disqualified her from the presidential race. 

Poe’s camp is hoping against hope that the full Comelec will still reverse its decisions but the senator is also banking on a favorable ruling once appeals are brought to the Supreme Court.

Duterte still has to face a disqualification case even if the poll body accepted his COC as a substitute candidate for PDP-Laban’s former standard-bearer Martin Diño.