Who Is Above The Law?

One might think that the election race in the Philippines is but a popularity contest. I cannot blame them when most of the politicians running for office or who are already sitting there are television personalities. And they are also the very controversial ones. One big and perfect example of which is presidential candidate Mary Grace Natividad Poe-Llamanzares.

Apart from her controversial qualifications – residency to be exact, the decision of the Supreme Court has also gained critics. Lawyers, professors, non-lawyers, common man and students alike all have their fingers dipped in the bowl. As a requirement for this blog and a student who needs to keep abreast with the current events especially a topic that concerns the Constitution, I am obliged to join the fun.

As for Poe’s qualifications, according to the Constitution, she is unfit to run. But far more experts than me have defended her. So who am I to judge when I am not even half done with law school. But for me, she is a foundling. And our Constitution did not provide a presumption that she is a Filipino. She has to prove that her parents are Fiilipinos. Others are trying to use pity as defense saying that as a foundling she has been neglected and yet the state gives her the burden of proving her parentage. Again, we are talking about the law. We go right back to dura lex sed lex. It is her battle to fight especially she is running for the highest position in the land. First fight, she already did not make much of an effort. She even got seated as a Senator. Second, she denounced her Filipino citizenship when she migrated to the United States of America. Then she conveniently reacquired her Filipino citizenship when one day she decided she will run for public office. And this time she cried foul when her previous COC and current COC are being questioned. My view on this, stands – follow the Constitution. Good faith should be immaterial. As a lawmaker, she should be first in having enough information with its provisions. I do not see the point of giving leniency to a person because he or she is a politician. Even if there was good faith, she failed to correct the mistake. If a common person made such mistake, it shall be declared right away that it was bad faith on his part. It was clear negligence and should not be excused. I give it to her for having the intention to establish her residency by fixing the necessary documents for her and her family. She gets a point there.

But as for the decision of the Supreme Court, I lost confidence altogether for the justices. As a baby in law school, we have been taught several times that the decisions of the Supreme Court adheres to the Constitution which is the law of the land. Of course apart from the law, there are also decisions or jurisprudence to be considered. But if this instance, we ignore our main guide, then it will be easy to ignore it the second time or the third time around. The decision was mainly on the jurisdiction of the COMELEC to decide whether she qualifies to run for office. And it was held that the COMELEC was wrong in cancelling Poe’s certificate of candidacy. It was found the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion. This was based on the case of Fermin v. COMELEC, wherein the COMELEC resolution was amended due to lack of provision for declaring the ineligibility of candidates. So what then is the role of the COMELEC?

This precedence on the eligibility of candidates for public office has set a very low mark in law and history. Yes, Poe may have the brains and the determination to improve the country. But the qualifications have no work around them. Yes, it is the Supreme Court who decided and I used to respect them all. But if they cannot be good examples now, who will follow the law? Who will abide by the Constitution or other laws for that matter? They, like Grace Poe will always find a hole and drill into it and get away in the end just to fulfill their dreams. In this day and age where social media has strong influence on the youth, what kind of example have they set forth? What kind of lesson did they impart to them? Was integrity upheld?

So now that this case has been decided upon, can we safely say that it is easy to manipulate the justice system? Are people are favored by the law? Are the politicians above the law? Are the well-known personalities always able to get away with the law?