Commissioner Arthur Lim was urbane, delightful and pleasantly instructive as he defended the Commission on Elections en banc decision disqualifying Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares, and cancelling her Certificate of Candidacy as a presidential candidate, in last Tuesday’s Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on the other hand came a bit too strong as she pleaded for a “rereading” of the Constitution to grant foundlings of unknown parentage the status of “natural-born citizens” for the benefit of Mrs. Llamanzares. It was a high moment for Lim, but regrettably a low moment for the lady chief justice.

In his seven-minute opening statement, Lim said that over and above its political undertones, the Llamanzares case is firstly, and ultimately, constitutional and legal, and should be resolved as such.