“Do your math, be fair and don’t abuse your authority to favor the administration candidate.”
This was the strong message of Ang Grasya ng Masang Pilipino Movement led by Adonis Samson, Rosendo So and former Dagupan City Councilor Luis Samson Jr. to the Commission of Elections following the decision made by the Comelec’s 2nd Division to disqualify Senator Grace Poe from the presidential race.
“The Comelec decision by the 2nd Division repeats the same flaws in the dissenting opinions of the SC Justices,” Samson said adding that “It also misses the very essence of reacquisition of Philippine citizenship under the law when it starts to count the residency only on the date of the approval of the petition for reacquisition and not on the date of actual residency in the Philippines.”
“It was unfortunate that the Second Division ridiculously concluded that Grace Poe lacks two months to complete the residency requirement since she returned here in 2005 and enrolled her children to Philippine school,” So said.
He also chided the Comelec for giving emphasis on the Senator’s Certificate of Candidacy in the May 2013 elections after it had already been superseded and corrected by her CoC for the president.
In its verdict, the three Comelec commissioners considered her to be short of six months to complete the 10 year minimum period.
“Arithmetic seems to be the order of the day rather than the legislative intent of RA No 9225,” said Samson.
He lamented that from the time Poe spurned the administration’s offer to be the vice president of Mar Roxas, all these questions on her citizenship and residency suddenly surged on social and traditional media.
“The same forces behind the massive cheating of Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004 are at it again, robbing the people of their fundamental right to elect the president they want by excluding Grace Poe, his daughter, from the presidential race,” noted the three Pangasinan leaders.
They also lauded the latest Senate Electoral Tribunal decision that affirmed Poe both as a natural born Filipino and eligible to run for president.
AGMPM is the same group that insured the victory of FPJ in the vote rich province of Pangasinan in the 2004 presidential elections. It is allied with other volunteer groups for the Grace-Chiz tandem with chapters in key cities nationwide and overseas.
