The Supreme Court (SC) resolved yesterday the appeals on its March 28 ruling which declared

Sen. Grace Poe qualified to run for president in the May elections.
But the high court opted to defer the release of the ruling.
The decision will be announced on Saturday, SC spokesman Theodore Te said following the
full session of the justices in Baguio City.
Te said the magistrates did not offer an explanation why they set the release of the ruling on
April 9, which is a holiday, Araw ng Kagitingan.
An insider said the justices agreed not to make any pronouncement about the decision until all
the opinions of the magistrates have been submitted for their signatures.
With a 9-6 vote, the SC allowed Poe to run for president and reversed the Commission on
Elections (Comelec) decision disqualifying her from the presidential race on March 8.
But when the concurring and dissenting opinions of the magistrates were released to the public
three days later, various sectors raised issues on the SC ruling on Poes citizenship and
residency.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio stressed in his dissenting opinion that there was no
majority ruling to establish Poes eligibility as a natural-born Filipino, saying only seven
justices voted in favor of the senator on her citizenship issue.
Aside from Carpio, five other justices said Poe could not be considered a natural-born Filipino
for being a foundling and therefore not eligible for election to a national post.
Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Mariano del Castillo and Benjamin Caguioa did not vote
on Poes citizenship issue.
Former University of the East College of Law dean Amado Valdez, one of four petitioners in
the disqualification cases against Poe, urged Peralta, Del Castillo and Caguioa to reconsider
their stand to settle the controversy before the elections.
The three other petitioners former senator Francisco Tatad, De La Salle University professor
Antonio Contreras and former Government Service Insurance System counsel Estrella
Elamparo filed their joint motion for reconsideration last month and asked the SC to reverse
its ruling.
The Comelec has filed a separate appeal asking the high court to hold another voting on Poes
citizenship and residency issues.
The poll body agreed with Carpios dissent that there was no majority vote finding Poe as a
natural-born Filipino and qualified to become president.

The Comelec and the petitioners insisted that Poe is not eligible for the presidency for not
being a natural-born citizen and not meeting the 10-year residency requirement under Article
VII Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution.
In the assailed ruling penned by Associate Justice Jose Perez, the SC held that there was no
material misrepresentation on the part of Poe when she declared in her certificate of candidacy
that she is a natural-born Filipino and a resident of the Philippines for 10 years.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines and Philippine Bar Association, two major organizations
of lawyers in the country, have expressed concern over the SC ruling. They said it could have
repercussions on the stability of the countrys legal system.
Poe hopes SC wont reverse ruling
Poe has expressed hope that the SC would uphold its decision allowing her to run for president.
I am confident that the SC will affirm its decision, Poe said in an interview after attending a
proclamation rally of local bets in Valenzuela City on Monday night. With Christina
Mendez