Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Sen. Nancy Binay gave her assurance that she would remain “fair and reasonable” in the hearing of a disqualification case against Sen. Grace Poe.
Binay is a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) where a quo warranto petition was filed by Rizalito “Lito” David last week — challenging Poe’s eligibility to run for Senate in the last midterm elections due to citizenship and residency requirements.
Related: Binay denies hand in bid to unseat Poe
“Wala naman pong dapat ikabahala si Senator Grace… Di naman dapat maging kumplikado ito. All she needs to do is to show evidence — yun lamang ang kailangan,” Binay said in a statement on Monday (August 10).
[Translation: “Senator Grace has nothing to worry about. This shouldn’t be complicated. All she needs to do is to show evidence — that’s all that is needed.”]
This developed as the lawmaker brushed off speculation that her participation in the hearing and decision on the case might be politically tainted.
Poe had been topping presidentiable preference surveys, unseating Senator Binay’s father — Vice President Jejomar Binay — as the number one choice for the highest office of the land.
Related: Poe overtakes VP Binay in survey on 2016 presidential bets
Related: Poe leads SWS presidential survey
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to imply that Senator Grace can’t expect impartiality from SET. The Constitution made sure that the six senators who are part of the nine-member electoral tribunal are chosen based on equitable representation from the political parties they represent in the Senate,” the younger Binay explained.
She added that the objectivity of SET has not been shaken and the people have no reason to doubt the integrity of the electoral tribunal.
“As far as I’m concerned, I will base my judgment on the evidence presented. If there are matters that need to be resolved by the Supreme Court which are outside the jurisdiction of SET, then we will accordingly refer such matter to the SC.”
For her part, Poe said she expected the senators to be fair in their judgment.
She added that the public would be watching and the people would know if the senators would act otherwise.
“So kapag sila ay tumaliwas sa kung ano ang nararapat na desisyon base sa ebidensya, sa tinging ko, ang magiging saksi at hahatol sa kanila ay ang ating mga kababayan,” Poe said.
[Translation: “Should they veer away from the right decision based on evidence, I think, the people will be the witness and will judge them accordingly.”]
CNN Philippines’ Anna Estanislao contributed to this report.
