“This ruling of the majority will lead to an absurd result. The majority allows a presidential candidate with uncertain citizenship status to be elected to the Presidency. In effect, the majority wants the Court to resolve the citizenship status of a presidential candidate only after the candidate is elected. If the winning candidate is later on determined by this Court not to be a natural-born Filipino citizen, then those who voted for the winning, but later disqualified, candidate would have utterly wasted their votes. To allow a presidential candidate to run and be voted for despite the uncertainty of his or her citizenship status makes a mockery of the electoral process. This is not how the Constitution should be interpreted -allowing an absurd result to happen.”
Senior Supreme Court Associate Justice ANTONIO CARPIO
Dissenting Opinion in the resolution of the motions for reconsideration in the cases of:
MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE LLAMANZARES, petitioner, v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and ESTRELLA C. ELAMPARO, respondents, G.R. No. 221697, April 5, 2016; and
MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE LLAMANZARES, petitioner, v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, FRANCISCO S. TATAD, ANTONIO P. CONTRERAS and AMADO D. VALDEZ, respondents, G.R. Nos. 221698-700, April 5, 2016.
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