Poe disqualified in 2016 polls: Comelec division

(UPDATE 1) MANILA - A Commission on Elections (Comelec) division has disqualified Senator Grace Poe from running for president in the 2016 elections.

Atty. George Garcia, Poe's counsel, confirmed Tuesday that the poll body's second division has cancelled Poe's certificate of candidacy (COC).

The Comelec division's decision is a response to a disqualification case filed by lawyer Estrella Elamparo, who claimed that Poe misrepresented herself in stating that she has the 10-year residency requirement to run for president.

Poe's spokesman, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian told a press conference they will exhaust all legal remedies to prove that Poe is qualified to seek the presidency.

"She's been with the country since 2005, she has more than sufficiently met the residency requirement," said Gatchalian.

Gatchalian also defended Poe on the alleged error in her COC.

"What matters is the fact, not what you wrote in your COC. She was not guided by a lawyer when she was filling up her COC," said Gatchalian.

Elamparo had said Poe only became a resident of the Philippines in September 2006, based on the COC she filed for Senator in 2013.

On November 17, the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) voted in favor of Poe in the quo warranto case filed against her by defeated senatorial candidate, Rizalito David.

Voting 5-4, the SET rejected David's petition which sought Poe's disqualification on the grounds that she is not a natural-born Filipino because of her status as a foundling.-- Report from Zhander Cayabyab, dzMM