The Senate Electoral Tribunal here, stacked with more senators than justices, ruled that presidential candidate Grace Poe is a natural-born Filipino.
A newspaper headline said Poe “jumped for joy” when she heard the news of the SET decision. When she lands back on earth, she should be scared, very scared.
Several petitioners have questioned Poe’s citizenship status because she was a foundling. She was adopted by movie stars Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.
It’s apparent from the votes of the Supreme Court justices on the SET that the law is really Poe’s enemy, not the petitioners against her. The three associate justices, Antonio Carpio, Teresita de Castro and Arturo Brion, all voted that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino.
Ergo, if that unanimity of opinion is translated into the whole Supreme Court which will surely be asked to rule on Poe’s natural-born citizenship, it would be logical to assume that the high court will rule against Poe, too.
That’s why Poe should worry instead of jumping for joy.
Poe has been emotionalizing her case, wrapping herself in the cause of all foundlings. She claims that her case isn’t just about her but about all foundlings.
That’s disingenuous because how many foundlings are likely to run for president in the future? What she’s doing is actually the reverse of what’s she’s mouthing. She’s playing to the people’s emotions by hiding behind unnamed and faceless foundlings. In the vernacular, that’s called “naghahanap ng kadamay.”
The disqualification cases filed against Poe on the basis that she’s not a natural-born Filipino are just about her and no one else. She’s just trying to turn her case into an emotional one to make it appear that it’s about foundlings in general.
Besides emotionalizing her case, Poe has also politicized it by ascribing political motives to the petitioners against her. I’ve written before that motives don’t matter. What matters is the crux of the cases against her, which is whether she’s a natural-born Filipino or not.
But she and her lawyers are muddling the issue to make it appear that it’s all politics. And even if all the petitioners have political motives, that is irrelevant to the case. The only relevant issue which the Supreme Court will eventually decide is whether in fact Poe is natural-born.
Poe’s tactics, playing the foundling card and decrying political motives, are so trapo, traditional politics. So new in politics and yet she already knows how to play the game.
Indeed Poe has been a quick study. She has quickly immersed herself in the nitty-gritty of Philippine politics, behaving like a true trapo (tra-Poe?).
No wonder she had no problem buying into the notion that she can be president of the country. As I wrote earlier, she manifests signs of self-importance, even a messianic bent.
As an example, her political advertisement currently running on prime time TV says: “Ayusin natin ang Pilipinas.” If that’s not messianic, it would be hard to imagine what is.
But back to her DQ cases. It’s evident to a layman like me that when the cases, or consolidated case, reaches the Supreme Court, Poe has serious reasons to worry. If the votes of the three associate justices on the SET are used as basis, then it can be assumed that the same legal interpretation will prevail among the justices, or a majority, of the high court.
It’s premature for Poe to be jumping for joy. She should return quickly to earth. And be scared, very scared.