Senate tribunal to decide on Poe’s disqualification case

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The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) will decide on one of the disqualification cases filed against Sen. Grace Poe on November 17, said Atty. Irene Guevarra, SET’s secretary, in a report by Manila Bulletin.

SET will decide on the disqualification petition filed by Rizalito David, concerning Poe’s election as senator in 2013. In the petition, David questioned the validity of Poe’s birth certificate.

Senator Poe has earlier submitted to SET 22 documents that prove her citizenship, in response to David’s petition. The senator asked SET to dismiss the petition as it was not filed in the prescribed period.

The date of the meeting falls on a non-working holiday, in lieu of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. SET aims to come up with a decision before Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) scheduled printing of ballots for the 2016 election.

SET is made up of six members of the legislative branch of the government, namely, Bam Aquino, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Cynthia Villar; and three member of the judiciary branch, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Arturo Brion and Teresita Leonardo de Castro.

The tribunal has discussed on Friday the negative results of Poe’s DNA test with her suspected relatives.