Fernando Poe Jr is eligible to run for Philippine president in May's election, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, handing the film star a critical victory in his bid to unseat President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Poe supporters danced jubilantly at his campaign headquarters after hearing the ruling, which can still be appealed.
"Justice prevails," said Butch Cadsawan, president of one movement supporting Poe.
A transcript of the court's decision released to reporters said its justices had ruled by eight votes to five to support a previous ruling by election body Comelec that Poe was a natural-born Filipino qualified to run for office.
"An hour ago, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the petition to disqualify Fernando Poe Jr, holding Fernando Poe Jr as a natural-born Filipino qualified to run for president," court spokesman Ismael Khan told reporters.
The long uncertainty over Poe's status has kept the peso near its record low of 56.35 to the US dollar. Despite the ruling, the market is unlikely to find much relief in the short term.
The lawyers who filed the petitions against Poe have 15 days to file a motion for reconsideration. Arroyo has denied being behind the petitions, saying she thinks Poe should run.
Poe boasts massive support from the movie-loving poor for his roles as a champion of the oppressed who lets his fists and guns do most of the talking.
But a Poe presidency is viewed with anxiety by markets worried about his lack of economic or political experience.
The prospect of mass unrest by his supporters if he was disqualified had loomed as an even bigger worry.
Earlier, SWAT teams with assault rifles and riot squads backed by water cannon had surrounded the Supreme Court in central Manila as police restricted traffic.
By late afternoon, there no signs of a major gathering of his supporters, despite earlier reports of a massing of pro-Poe backers.
Opinion polls show him neck-and-neck with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as both run far ahead of four others seeking the nation's highest office.
Ironically, many analysts viewed a "yes" verdict as positive for Arroyo, who has struggled to establish her legitimacy in the eyes of millions of poor after she rode a wave of anti-corruption protests to oust their hero Joseph Estrada, another ex-film star, in early 2001.
But the verdict is sure to boost Poe's campaign, which had been showing signs of flagging as doubts rose over his candidacy.
"The money bags who have been hesitant to put their money on Poe will at this point invest in him just in case he wins," political analyst Joel Rocamora said.
The Supreme Court was weighing petitions questioning whether Poe is in fact a Filipino after his birth out of wedlock to an American mother and a father born early in the last century during the US occupation of the Philippines.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
RSS