Philippine court rules Senator Grace Poe is qualified to run for president

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a senator who spent much of her life in the United States is eligible to run for president, reversing a decision by the election commission and putting her in line to reclaim her position as front runner.

Voting 9-6, the judges allowed first-term Senator Grace Poe to run in the May election, said court spokesman Theodore Te, a decision that will shake up what is now a tight race to succeed President Benigno Aquino.

Poe, 47, was abandoned as a child in a church in the central Philippines and was adopted by movie actors. She had been leading opinion polls, but questions about her citizenship allowed three of her four rivals to catch up.

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Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said the ruling would put her back in the lead.

“A favourable decision seals Poe’s front runner position,” he said.

Poe has campaigned on a pro-poor campaign, promising to build on Aquino’s programmes of creating jobs and building infrastructure, which have helped propel one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.

“It’s a dangerous result,” Manuelito Luna, a lawyer for former senator Francisco Tatad who opposed Poe’s candidacy, said. “It’s a recipe for chaos.”