A DAY after disclosing the DNA test results with two of her possible relatives were negative, Senator Grace Poe on Thursday said she will take another procedure with a new subject to prove that she is a Filipino born of Filipino parents.
Interviewed after the Makabayan Bloc endorsed her presidential bid and that of her running mate Francis Escudero at the Quezon City Sports Complex, Poe reiterated her DNA samples did not match those of her supposed relatives.
“We underwent a DNA test but it did not match. We are thinking of one thing to do so the process continues,” she said.
Poe is expected to appear before the Commission on Elections on Tuesday to answer the disqualification cases filed against her to stop her bid to run for President in the May 2016 polls. Her critics claim she is not a Filipino citizen.
“Although her presence is not required by the Comelec, we decided that she will be there during the hearing,” George Garcia, Poe’s lawyer, said.
Poe will have a new test with a new potential family member whom she refused to name.
“We are doing this process not only to strengthen my defense in the disqualification cases against me but for myself as well,” Poe said
The Senate Electoral Tribunal led by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is deliberating on the disqualification case against Poe filed by defeated senatorial candidate Rizalito David.
David has also filed an election offense case against Poe for allegedly violating the Omnibus Election Code in relation to her citizenship.
For years, Poe has been trying to find out who her biological parents are even if they apparently abandoned her and was later adopted by actors Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.
Last June, Poe went to Iloilo and met with family friends who, she said, gave her more information about the possible identity of her biological parents.
Poe, the frontrunner in the presidential surveys, says she has been urged to take out an advertisement in Iloilo, where she was abandoned in a church in 1968.
“A lot of people give suggestions. There are those who suggest that we put ads in Iloilo on whoever wants to approach us. However, we have to undergo another test,” Poe said.
Meanwhile, Makabayan president Satur Ocampo has endorsed the presidential candidacy of Poe and the vice presidential candidacy of Escudero.
He cited their commitment to socioeconomic and political reforms, good record as public servants and open-mindedness in cooperation with progressive forces.
“These are the main reasons of Makabayan for endorsing the candidacies of Grace and Chiz,” Ocampo said.
