The Philippine Supreme Court yesterday began studying files on the eligibility of presidential frontrunner Fernando Poe to contest the May 10 election, and officials said a delay could lead to weeks of campaign confusion.
Movie star Poe, a political novice whose Philippine citizenship has been questioned, holds a commanding lead in opinion polls over President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and four others vying for the nation's highest office.
"Considering the urgency, and this is my personal opinion, maybe some time in the next two weeks," Gleo Guerra, senior chief staff officer at the Supreme Court, said on television yesterday in comments on the potential timing of a ruling.
PHOTO: AP
The court asked for position papers to be submitted on Monday after it heard arguments on Thursday about Poe's birth out of wedlock in 1939 to an American mother and a father who was born during the US occupation of the Philippines early last century.
But Guerra said the 14 justices could yet decide they lack jurisdiction to rule on the citizenship issue.
Under that scenario, they could send the case to a lower court or stand aside entirely, leaving in place two rulings by the election commission that stated Poe is eligible to run.
If the Supreme Court does take up the case, its decision may not come until early March, leaving voters and investors with no clear picture of the presidential line-up until at least a third of the way into the three-month campaign period.
The tension has already bubbled into isolated violence, and uncertainty over Poe's citizenship -- a prerequisite to run -- further undermined the fragile peso, which touched an all-time low of 56.35 against the dollar yesterday.
Police used truncheons and water cannon on Thursday to block rock-throwing Poe supporters from marching to the Supreme Court.
Poe's wife called for calm at a peaceful rally by about 3,000 people at a Manila park and his campaign team has been careful to avoid threatening riots.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS