It’s not about politics, it’s the Constitution
The
Supreme Court has finally decided on presidential candidate Grace Poe ruling
9-6 in her favor. Despite the
allegations thrown against her regarding her citizenship and residency as a
basis of her qualifications to run for the presidency, the court, ignored these
constitutional provisions and allowed still, Senator Grace Poe to finally run
in the May election.
Generally,
the Supreme Court’s decision is final and binding on itself. However, in my own
point of view, I am terribly dismayed with the Supreme Court’s decision. Disregarding
the rule of law is the matter at hand here, several debates, moot courts and
discussions by legal luminaries have been held in resolving the case of Grace
Poe and most of them resulted in negating the contention of Grace Poe regarding
her citizenship and residency. Many people looked at the political perspective,
but this is actually not about politics, but rather the law itself, the
Constitution.
The
controversy about Grace Poe’s citizenship and residency is about the law and
who is and not qualified to run for president. Under the 1987 constitution, section 2, article VII states that only a natural-born Filipino citizen is qualified to
run for president, hence, it is clear and precise. [1]
According to Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, “Grace Poe can be
considered a Filipino under International Customary Law but only as a
naturalized citizen and not as a natural-born Filipino citizen.”[2]
I agree with him, based on what I have learned in the Sta. Maria Moot Court
Cup, whereas, it was held that Grace Poe is not a natural-born Filipino citizen
based on the legal basis presented by the mooters to the panels. SC Associate
Justice Carpio also added that, “customary law can be followed so long as it
does not violate provisions of the Constitution.” Clearly, there is a violation
in certain provisions of the Constitution, particularly, section 2, article VII
of the 1987 Constitution. Therefore, Grace Poe is not a natural-born Filipino
citizen.
Our
Constitution is the supreme law of the land. All political parties,
organizations, and people should act in accordance with the Constitution and
they should abide by the constitution and laws without any exception. No one is
stopping her from running in presidency so long as she meets the qualifications
stated in the Constitution. The problem here is that Grace Poe did not satisfy
the requirements of her citizenship and her residency in the Philippines but
the Supreme Court still allowed Grace Poe to run in the May election, despite
her violations in regards to qualifications to run for presidency stated in the
Constitution. I believed that the decision ignored the constitutional provisions
and was looked in the political perspective of the matter.
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