By Sandy Araneta and Macon R. Araneta
A FORMER ally of the late Fernando Poe Jr. during the 2004 elections filed a disqualification case Monday against his adopted daughter, Senator Grace Poe, charging that she was not qualified to run for President or hold public office.
The case filed by former Senator Francisco Tatad was the third such complaint against Poe before the Commission on Elections.
Tatad’s lawyer, Manuelito Luna, said the new complaint sought a stronger sanction against Poe—a permanent ban against her running for any elective position in all elections.
“If we will be favored or sustained here, then she will be forever barred from running for any elective position in the Philippines for being not a citizen of the Philippines,” Luna said.
Tatad, who was part of the Fernando Poe’s senatorial slate in 2004, filed the petition on Monday morning asking the Commission on Elections to disqualify Poe because she was not a natural-born Filipino citizen and failed to meet the residency requirement to run for President in the May 2016 elections.
On Friday, lawyer Estrella Elamparo filed the second petition seeking to deny due course for Poe’s Certificate of Candidacy. Failed senate candidate Rizalito David filed the first complaint before the Comelec and the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
As in the earlier petitions, Tatad argued that as a foundling, Poe was unable to determine if she was born of a Filipino father or mother.
“Considering that respondent’s bloodline is unknown, it is incumbent upon her to prove that she is a Filipino, that is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines,” Tatad said in a petition.
Tatad also said Poe’s residency would fall short of the 10 years required by law for a candidate running for President.
Like his daughter, the elder Poe faced a disqualification case on the basis of his alleged questionable citizenship when he ran for president in 2004.
“That’s different. This is not a personal but a highly constitutional issue. His daughter is blind; she can’t read the Constitution,” Tatad said of the senator.
Tatad, a known ally of Vice President Jejomar Binay, also said he has no political motives in filing the case and said he first raised the citizenship issues against Poe in his newspaper columns.
“Who are my political allies? Don’t raise speculations because there are none. I have never been accused of false motives in any of my actions. I’ve been in public life for more than half of my life. My record is clear, it’s an open book,” he said.
Luna, was the same one working for Rizalito David, who filed a disqualification case against Poe before the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
Asked why the two share the same lawyer, Tatad said he knew Luna to be “a good election lawyer.”
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the law department would likely consolidate both Tatad’s and Elamparo’s petition.
He also said it was unlikely that the petitions would be resolved soon, given the Comelec’s other tasks.
“If we are talking about a benchmark, remember [that] the disqualification [case] filed against a candidate for governor was resolved after the elections. That’s the benchmark in terms of how long it will take,” Jimenez said.
Poe, the frontrunner in the 2016 presidential polls according to recent surveys, said she was unfazed by Tatad’s petition.
In a text message, Poe said, “It’s good they come out with it. We were expecting this. We are not hiding anything and we are ready to face their accusations.”
Poe has repeatedly said that despite her being a foundling, she is a natural-born Filipino citizen based on the existing provisions of the Constitution and international law.
She said the petitions against her were being filed to “subvert the will of the people.”
Her lawyer, George Garcia, maintained that Poe met all the requirements to seek the presidency.
“Truth to be told, Senator Grace has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications provided for by the Constitution to aspire for the presidency,” he said in a text message.
Poe’s running mate, Senator Francis Escudero, said he was confident that Poe can overcome all the cases being lodged against her.
Prodded on its impact on Poe’s presidential bid, Escudero noted that based on survey results, this was just a small issue, but could be an unwanted distraction.
The Palace distanced itself from the Tatad petition.
“There is a petition filed before the Comelec so it’s up to the Comelec to decided on the petition of Senator Kit Tatad. We cannot say anything about it… It’s up to the Comelec to decide,” said Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.