Foundling and the consequences of being one
Nobody can begrudge Senator Grace Poe her elation over the Senate Electoral Tribunal's 5-4 decision upholding her right to keep her seat in the Senate. The SET voted to junk losing senatorial bet Rizalito David's petition to have Poe stripped of her Senate seat on grounds that, as a foundling, her parents are unknown and, in the absence of such determination, she therefore could not be deemed a natural born citizen, which is one of the constitutional requirements for her to be a senator.
But the joy and celebration of Poe is premature because the political character of the decision is so outrageously evident only the mentally challenged would fail to see she actually lost in the legal and constitutional points that the petition sought to address. Had Poe a little honesty and self-respect she would have been sobered by the glaring fact that all the three Supreme Court justices who are members of the SET all voted in favor of David's petition.
On the other hand, this whole thing is still not over for Poe. David can still seek a reconsideration of the SET ruling. And then there are the other petitions lodged with the Commission on Elections on the same constitutional and legal issues pertaining to her citizenship, this time with regard to her candidacy for president in 2016.
Obviously Poe can be happy, but not too happy as in ultimately victorious happy. There is no final victory yet even if that is what she wrongfully believes. But what makes her premature celebration really worse is that it proceeds from the erroneous assumption that she has been vindicated as a foundling. Already, Poe has been babbling motherhood statements about foundlings everywhere now having a chance to become senators and presidents, as if that was really the issue here.
Either Poe is being mentally dishonest, or she totally does not understand the issues she is faced with. On either ground, she disqualified her own fitness for the presidency so much more than the citizenship issues now hounding her can. One can almost puke at Poe's gumption to insist she is being sought to be disqualified on account of her being a foundling when the fact it is not.
It is not because she is a foundling that Poe is sought to be disqualified. It is because, as a foundling, her parents cannot be determined. And because her parents cannot be determined, there is no way of knowing whether she is the daughter of Americans, or Chinese, or even Syrians which, if that is the case, she cannot be a senator, much less the president of the Philippines.
Most people find that very easy to understand. Unfortunately, some people, Poe obviously among them, simply refuse to do so. Worse, they use underhanded means like playing to the emotions about foundlings to confront a question that has absolutely nothing to do with feelings. The issue here is a constitutional one and must be addressed on such basis.
The SET voting on the Poe question, with the exception of the three Supreme Court justices who honored their commitment and responsibilities as SET members and thus brought honor to themselves, brought shame to the SET itself. It was a travesty of the highest order and will forever stigmatize the senators who participated in such a sham.
We salute the justices who remained true to their calling -- Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Arturo Brion. But shame on these senators who voted to uphold political interests over constitutional and legal demands -- Loren Legarda, Bam Aquino, Vicente Sotto III, Cynthia Villar, Pia Cayetano, and even Nancy Binay who, while voting with the honorable justices, dishonored their company by voting against Poe for no other reason than that Poe and her father will be rivals in 2016.
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