MANILA: Fernando Poe Jr is eligible to run for Philippine president in May's election, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, handing the film star a critical victory in his bid to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
A transcript of the court's decision released to reporters yesterday said its 14 justices had ruled by eight votes to five, with one abstention, to support a previous ruling by election body Comelec that Poe was a natural-born Filipino qualified to run for president.