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The question of the election's constitutionality, however, remains unsettled. Marcos' opponents, in hopes of delaying the vote and gaining more time to campaign for their candidates, have filed a total of ten petitions with the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the snap election. The court scheduled a hearing for this week on the matter, but a ruling may not come for weeks. Opposition members, including Aquino, have warned that if Marcos senses impending defeat at the polls, he might signal the justices, all of them handpicked by him, to call off the election. With a respected constitutional expert like Tolentino on Marcos' team, the ploy might gain greater credibility.
The opposition campaign could also be disrupted by a law that requires any presidential candidate to have been a legal resident of the Philippines for the past ten years. Although Aquino has maintained a residence in Queson City and has paid Philippine taxes during the past decade, she and her husband lived in exile in Boston from 1980 to 1983. Few believe that the President would challenge Aquino's candidacy on such a sensitive point. On the other hand, a politician as resourceful as Marcos might try almost anything if the going gets rough.