Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Poe disqualification cases today

The Supreme Court (SC) meets this afternoon (Jan. 19) to hear oral arguments on two cases that challenged the rulings of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which disqualified Sen. Grace Poe as a presidential candidate for not being a natural-born Filipino and for lack of the required 10-year residency. Earlier this morning, in its full court session since its holiday recess, the high court will meet on several other election cases, mostly those filed by party-list groups whose registration and accreditation had been rejected by the Comelec. A marathon debate on the Poe case is expected among the representatives of the Comelec, Poe’s lawyers, and those who filed the disqualification complaints that had been acted upon favorably by the poll body. The SC had earlier said it will rule expeditiously on the merits of Poe’s two petitions in consideration of the timeline of the Comelec’s preparations for the May elections. [...]