The camp of Senator Grace Poe has conceded that the senator is unable to establish the circumstances surrounding her birth through DNA tests recently undertaken. This means that the DNA samples used in the tests do not link Poe to any surmised parent or relative.
All is not lost for Poe, though. If Poe is able to establish paternity or filiation through credible tests performed on other authenticated DNA samples she may happen to acquire soon enough, then perhaps she may be able to contest the disqualification cases filed against her before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the Commission on Elections. Considering, however, that the DNA samples Poe used in the recent tests must have been the best samples available to her, then the likelihood of her getting even better, more reliable samples is statistically slim. Adding to Poe’s woes is the limited time left for her to do so, inasmuch as both the SET and the Comelec have to decide the cases against her sooner or later, but ideally before election day.
Even assuming that the recent DNA tests were favorable to Poe, the findings are still subject to intense scrutiny by her opponents in the SET and Comelec cases. Other experts in DNA technology will be sought for their expert opinion. The methodology used by the scientists who examined the DNA samples provided by Poe will be subjected to further evaluation. Where an area of possible disagreement exists, there is the likelihood of experts arriving at conflicting opinions. Any disparity in the expert opinions will also pose a problem to the Supreme Court, where the disqualification cases against Poe will be brought ultimately.
All this means that Poe remains a foundling, albeit one adopted by the late Fernando Poe Jr. and Jesusa Sonora, also known as Susan Roces. Under the Constitution, a foundling does not qualify as a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and there are no applicable international conventions which validly provide otherwise. This legal point has been discussed in detail in past essays under this column.
Right now, Poe ought to seriously attend to the disqualification cases against her in the SET and the Comelec. Her presidential ambition depends greatly on the results of both cases.
Although the SET case against Poe seeks to unseat her from the Senate on the ground that she is not a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a final ruling against Poe in the SET case, unless vacated by the Supreme Court on appeal, will have a direct bearing on her disqualification case in the Comelec because the Constitution mandates that presidents and senators must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines.
Poe’s case in the Comelec is of equal importance because the converse is also true—a ruling against Poe in the Comelec will likewise affect her case in the SET. Unfortunately, however, the Comelec seems inclined to act on Poe’s case only after the SET shall have ruled on the issue concerning Poe’s citizenship in the SET case. This inclination is unwise because the SET just might take forever to resolve that issue, and may even arrive at a legally untenable ruling. At any rate, the Comelec should be told that voters are entitled to know, with the least delay, who among the candidates out in the open are and are not qualified to run for president, so that they do not waste their votes on somebody who cannot represent them to begin with.
Whoever loses in the Comelec and in the SET is bound to elevate their respective cases to the Supreme Court. If that happens, will there be enough time for the Supreme Court to resolve the Poe cases judiciously? Public interest advocates are urging the Supreme Court to discreetly prepare for the Poe cases even as early as December 2015 because of the virtual certainty that the cases will reach Padre Faura. By studying the legal issues in advance, albeit discreetly, the justices of the Supreme Court may just have enough quality time to resolve the Poe cases on the merits.
Poe’s moist eye on Malacañang has put an interesting spin on both the presidential and the vice presidential races. Assuming that Poe does win as president in May 2016 and she is disqualified by competent legal authority after she is proclaimed president, the proclaimed winner of the vice presidential derby, and not the second-placer in the presidential election, succeeds as president.
Actually, the situation is going to get more complicated than it so far appears. Since the Constitution vests in Congress, and not in the Comelec or the SET, the exclusive power to proclaim the winning candidates for president and vice president, what will happen if Poe wins and Congress pre-empts both the Comelec and the SET by proclaiming Poe?
There is more. Once Congress proclaims a presidential candidate, all issues relating to the qualifications of the president must be resolved by the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. If the PET rules that Poe is not a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and unseats her, will the pronouncement of the PET on the citizenship issue against Poe be binding on the SET? That is doubtful because the PET is not an appellate forum for decisions of the SET. Although pronouncements of the Supreme Court are binding on the SET, the Supreme Court and the PET are, in legal theory and in jurisprudence, distinct entities. This is confirmed by the fact that justices of the Supreme Court receive compensation as PET members, separate from the compensation they are entitled to as justices.
The political formula for victory in the presidential and vice presidential derbies in May 2016 has become very complicated, indeed, thanks to a foundling who wants to be president even before completing her term as a freshman senator.