CHIZ SAYS PETITION VS SET RULING 'EXPECTED'

Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero said that he and Sen. Grace Poe are more than willing to face Rizalito David in the Supreme Court as they had long expected the losing senatorial candidate to challenge the Nov. 17 decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) upholding Poe's win in the 2013 senatorial elections.

"This is part of the legal process that any aggrieved party can pursue. We will again face him in the Supreme Court," Escudero said, after David challenged the before the high court the SET ruling dismissing his petition.

The SET--composed of three SC justices and six senators--affirmed the election of Poe in the Senate, saying she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and is therefore qualified to run and be elected not only as senator, but also as president.

Poe, the topnotcher in the 2013 senatorial polls, is also facing multiple cases before the Commission on Elections, all seeking to invalidate her candidacy for president in the 2016 elections.

Escudero insisted that Poe "remains a presidential candidate unless the SC says otherwise."

He said they will continue to exhaust all legal remedies and will stop only once the SC has ruled with finality on Poe's eligibility to run and be elected both as senator and president.

"Patuloy naming ipaglalaban 'yung karapatan nyang (Poe) makatakbo at tumakbo hanggang sa Korte Suprema," said Escudero, the frontrunner in various voter preference surveys for vice presidential candidates in the 2016 elections.

"Hangga't hindi nagsasalita ang Korte Suprema with finality, we will continue to pursue and fight for that principle and belief that both under the law and the facts, she is qualified to run not only in the Senate but also for the presidency," he added.

According to Escudero, Poe stands a good chance of getting a favorable ruling from the high court given its long-standing decision that election issues that do not involve crimes or obvious violations of laws, "should be settled by the voters, not by judges and lawyers."