WORLD

Philippine Presidential Favorite Grace Poe Barred From May Poll

Electoral commission said senator failed to meet 10-year residency requirement

By TREFOR MOSS | Dec. 1, 2015 8:43 a.m. ET

A popular candidate in next year’s Philippines presidential elections, Grace Poe, was disqualified by the country’s electoral commission Tuesday for failing to meet the residency requirement.

The decision could plunge the race into controversy beforecampaigning has even officially begun.

The 47-year-old senator and daughter of two popular movie stars had surged into an early lead before the May 2016 vote in Southeast Asia’s second biggest democracy, according to recent opinion polls.

In late November, 39% of people surveyed by Pulse Asia, a local polling firm, said they intended to vote for Ms. Poe, while 24% favored Vice President Jejomar Binay and 21% said they would vote for Manuel Roxas, a longtime public official endorsed by outgoing President Benigno Aquino.

Mr. Roxas served as transport secretary and then interior secretary in the Aquino administration.

The survey was conducted before a fourth challenger, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, joined the race last week.

Despite her strong appeal with voters, Ms. Poe’s candidacy has looked in jeopardy from the outset, as she has faced several legal challenges seeking to freeze her out of the race.

In November, she narrowly fended off a bid at the Senate Electoral Tribunal to have her disqualified on the grounds that she isn’t a natural-born Filipino, which is a constitutional requirement for a presidential candidate.

Ms. Poe was abandoned in a church as a baby and was adopted by actors Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces, raising questions about her origins. The late Mr. Poe ran for the presidency in 2004, narrowly losing a vote tainted by corruption allegations.

The Commission on Elections said Tuesday that it had granted a separate request to cancel Ms. Poe’s candidacy, which cast doubt on whether Ms. Poe has been a resident of the Philippines for 10 years, another requirement.

Ms. Poe lived in the U.S. for several years and renounced her Filipino citizenship for a time while overseas, but she has said that she has been back in the Philippines long enough to qualify for the presidency.

In its ruling, the commission said that, according to a declaration on residency she made when running for senator in 2013, Ms. Poe will only have been back in the Philippines for 9½ years at the time of the election, rendering her ineligible. Ms. Poe says this was an error, and that she came back from the U.S. much earlier.

A representative for Ms. Poe said she would appeal the decision. The appeal will be “en banc”, meaning that all Commission on Elections’ judges will have a say.

Tuesday’s decision was signed by three of the electoral body’s commissioners, whereas its chairman and all six commissioners will rule jointly on the appeal.

“It’s not over yet,” said political commentator Ramon Casiple, suggesting Ms. Poe could still bounce back. But doubts about her candidacy make fundraising problematic, and would also boost her flagging rivals, Mr. Casiple said.

Even though the presidential campaign doesn’t officially get under way until January, the race has already become contentious. Last week, Mr. Duterte said he would run because he felt unable to stand by and let Ms. Poe win. “I cannot accept an American president,” he told local reporters.

But Mr. Duterte faced problems of his own Tuesday, when the Catholic Church denounced him for making insulting remarks about the pope, and urged its congregation—numbering around 80% of this country of 100 million people—to vote for someone else. Mr. Duterte said Tuesday that he would pull out of the race should the pope tell him to do so.

Mr. Binay, meanwhile, faces a string of corruption allegations—all of which he denies—while Mr. Roxas has consistently lagged behind in the polls, despite the backing of Mr. Aquino.

Source:www.wsj.com