- High-profile lawyer weighs in on the Supreme Court’s Grace Poe decision
- He mulls whether the high tribunal has just created a ‘super class of citizens’ with ruling
- He also asks whether the burden of proving one’s allegations does not apply to foundlings like Poe
MANILA, Philippines – With legal circles essentially divided by the Supreme Court’s decision on Sen. Grace Poe, high-profile lawyer Raymond Fortun also weighed in on the possible implications of the high tribunal’s ruling.
On his Facebook, Fortun mulled whether the Supreme Court ignored an important principle of the Rules of Evidence and has essentially created a privileged class of citizens.
“I know I need to hold back my commentary until I have read all the opinions from a recent decision, but I JUST NEED TO SAY THIS: One of the cornerstone principles of our country’s Rules of Evidence is “he who alleges has the burden of proving it,” read his post.
“Did we just throw this out the window? Did we just create a super class of citizens composed of foundlings, who are not subject to basic rules on Evidence?” he asked.
Fortun also earlier penned a letter to Poe asking whether she was really running for president out of a sincere desire to serve her country. He also asked whether she was being honest when she filled out her residency in her certificate of candidacy.
The Supreme Court ruled 9-6 in favor of Poe — a decision which has been under fire especially after chief dissenter Justice Antonio Carpio contended the high tribunal did not reach a majority in ruling on Poe’s citizenship status.
According to Carpio, the vote in favor of Poe’s natural-born status — 7-5-3 — did not constitute a majority because the votes of the three justices who decided not to rule on that issue should have also been counted.
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