May nagawang material misrepresentation si Sen. Grace Poe nang magsinungaling ito sa kanyang residency na hindi maaaring tanggapin bilang “honest mistake” kaya nararapat na diskuwalipikahin ang kanyang kandidatura, ayon kay Supreme Court Justice Mariano C. del Castillo.
Sa 70-pahinang draft decision na kabilang sa kumontra sa petisyon na inihain ni Poe sa Korte Suprema hinggil sa naunang diskuwalipikasyon ng Commission on Elections (Comelec), sinabi ni Del Castillo na hindi niya matatanggap bilang “honest mistake” nang ideklara ni Poe na “anim na taon at anim na buwan” sa kanyang inihaing certificate of candidacy (CoC) nang siya ay tumakbo sa pagkasenador noong 2013 election.
Kamakalawa, bumoto ang mga mahistrado ng Korte Suprema ng 9-6 pabor sa pagtakbo ni Poe sa May 9 presidential elections.
“Based on the said entry, it could be deduced that by her own reckoning, petitioner (Poe) started residing in the Philippines in November 2006. Thus by Mary 8, 2016, or the day immediately preceding the election on May 9, 2016, her period of residency in the Philippines would only be nine years and six months, or short of the mandatory 10-year residency requirement for the presidential post,” ayon kay Del Castillo.
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Ito ay taliwas, ayon kay Del Castillo, sa nakasaad sa inihaing 2015 CoC ng senadora na ang kanyang period of residency sa Pilipinas isang araw bago ang May 9, 2016 elections ay “10 taon at 11 buwan.”
“Clearly, these are contrasting declarations which give the impression that Poe adjusted the period of her residency in her 2015 COC to show that she is eligible to run for the presidency. This made her open and vulnerable to the charge of having committed a material misrepresentation in her 2015 COC,” pagdidiin ni Castillo.
“True, Poe tried to correct her alleged mistakes through her public statements.... But this Court cannot help but conclude that these public statements were for the purpose of representing to the general public that the petitioner is eligible to run for president since they were made at a time when she was already contemplating on running for the position,” dagdag pa ni Del Castillo, kasabay ng pagbato ng sisi kay Poe dahil hindi agad nito itinuwid ang naturang misrepresentation. (REY PANALIGAN)
