Actor Poe cleared to run for RP president<\/p>\n
Actor Poe
\ncleared
\nto run for
\nRP president<\/p>\n
Reuters
\nManila<\/p>\n
Fernando Poe Jr. is eligible to run for Philippine president in
\nMay's election, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, handing the
\nfilm star a critical victory in his bid to unseat President
\nGloria Macapagal Arroyo.<\/p>\n
Poe supporters danced jubilantly at his campaign headquarters
\nafter hearing the ruling, which can still be appealed.<\/p>\n
\"Justice prevails,\" said Butch Cadsawan, president of one
\nmovement supporting Poe.<\/p>\n
A transcript of the court's decision released to reporters
\nsaid its justices had ruled by eight votes to five to support a
\nprevious ruling by election body Comelec that Poe was a natural-
\nborn Filipino qualified to run for office.<\/p>\n
\"An hour ago, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the
\npetition to disqualify Fernando Poe Jr, holding Fernando Poe Jr
\nas a natural-born Filipino qualified to run for president,\" court
\nspokesman Ismael Khan told reporters.<\/p>\n
The long uncertainty over Poe's status has kept the peso near
\nits record low of 56.35 to the dollar. Despite the ruling, the
\nmarket is unlikely to find much relief in the short term.<\/p>\n
The lawyers who filed the petitions against Poe have 15 days
\nto file a motion for reconsideration. Arroyo has denied being
\nbehind the petitions, saying she thinks Poe should run.<\/p>\n
Poe boasts massive support from the movie-loving poor for his
\nroles as a champion of the oppressed who lets his fists and guns
\ndo most of the talking.<\/p>\n
But a Poe presidency is viewed with anxiety by markets worried
\nabout his lack of economic or political experience.<\/p>\n
The prospect of mass unrest by his supporters if he was
\ndisqualified had loomed as an even bigger worry.<\/p>\n
Earlier, SWAT teams with assault rifles and riot squads backed
\nby water cannon had surrounded the Supreme Court in central
\nManila as police restricted traffic.<\/p>\n
By late afternoon, there no signs of a major gathering of his
\nsupporters, despite earlier reports of a massing of pro-Poe
\nbackers.<\/p>\n
Opinion polls show him neck-and-neck with President Gloria
\nMacapagal Arroyo as both run far ahead of four others seeking the
\nnation's highest office.<\/p>\n
Ironically, many analysts viewed a \"yes\" verdict as positive
\nfor Arroyo, who has struggled to establish her legitimacy in the
\neyes of millions of poor after she rode a wave of anticorruption
\nprotests to oust their hero Joseph Estrada, another ex-film star,
\nin early 2001.<\/p>\n
But the verdict is sure to boost Poe's campaign, which had
\nbeen showing signs of flagging as doubts rose over his candidacy.<\/p>",
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