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Thursday, March 04, 2004
FPJ is Filipino: SC
By Stephen Capillas
Local candidates welcome news; FPJ rally in Oro next week
THE Supreme Court (SC) ruled Wednesday night that opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. is a natural-born Filipino and is thus qualified to seek the highest post of the country.
The Palace and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) welcomed the decision of the High Tribunal, while the petitioners in the case vowed to file an appeal.
By a vote of eight to five with one abstention, the SC dismissed the three suits questioning the qualification of Poe to run in the May elections.
The ruling came even as President Arroyo tied FPJ in a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
Here in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental, local officials welcomed the news, with Misamis Oriental Gov. Antonio Calingin lauding the High Court for their decision.
"They have seen the light of day. Talaga namang natural born Filipino citizen si Fernando Poe Jr. (Fernando Poe Jr. is truly a natural born Filipino). So it's all systems go for the campaign," he told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Calingin said Poe is set to hold a series of rallies rally in the Pelaez Sports Center on March 12-13.
No reason
The local PDP-Laban met with representatives of the Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino and Aquilino Pimentel III last March 1 in the PDP-Laban headquarters to plan out the details of the grand rally.
Aside from FPJ, his running mate Loren Legarda and the 12-man KNP senatorial slate, around 40 movie personalities will be coming for the event.
Acting Misamis Oriental Gov. Miguel de Jesus said he was glad about the decision, saying it quelled any doubts that the Arroyo administration is behind the attempts to disqualify Poe.
"Though there is no reason not to pursue the case since it is urgent to determine Fernando Poe Jr.'s citizenship once and for all," he told dxIF Bombo Radyo.
Later, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula said whether one agrees with the Supreme Court decision or not the people should respect the tribunal's decision.
Meanwhile mayoralty candidate and former Vice-Mayor Antonio Soriano said the decision eased fears of any destabilization attempt by several quarters in the event of an FPJ disqualification.
"But there are still some remaining fears pending the final decision by the Supreme Court on the issue. Under the law these petitioners can file a motion for reconsideration," he said.
No stopping now
Soriano said contrary to claims by critics FPJ is not wholly to blame for the recent plunge in the economy since there are a lot of factors to be considered.
He also said the three vote margin only showed how close the SC decision is in favor of FPJ.
"That's why there is still this uncertainty over FPJ's fate," Soriano said.
For his part Partido ng Kalikasan and PDP-Laban congressional candidate Manuel Ravanera said that the friends of the court or "amicus curae" helped in determining the decision on FPJ.
He said there is no basis to declare the actor turned aspirant as foreigner because Poe's father is a Filipino.
The former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) local chapter president also disputed the latest SWS survey showing the FPJ-GMA tie saying it was taken while there were uncertainties over the disqualification case on the actor.
"Mag-ubos ang rating (The ratings lowered) in the SWS survey because of doubts on FPJ's citizenship. Now his ratings will go up because of the Supreme Court and his backers will be encouraged by this development," he said.
Ravanera said their camp is heartened by this development adding, "There is no stopping now in their electoral campaign." With a report from Sunnex
(March 4, 2004 issue)
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