FULL TEXT: Poe asks SET to junk disqualification case

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Grace Poe on Tuesday asked the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) to dismiss the disqualification case filed against her.

In a 107-page reply to the disqualification complaint filed against her, Poe's lawyers cited that the period to question her qualifications had already lapsed.

Losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David filed the said complaint to unseat Poe on the grounds that she is not qualified for office as she is not a natural-born Filipino. The senator also asked the SET to cite David in contempt for alleged "willful and deliberate forum-shopping."

According to a statement released by Poe, the answer filed by her lawyers were based on "facts, documentary evidence and pertinent laws and jurisprudence, that she is a natural born citizen and her residence or length of stay in the country is more than sufficient when she ran and won as a senator."

Poe's counsel also stressed that her qualifications as a senator may only be questioned 10 days upon being proclaimed as a senator. She was elected and proclaimed as a senator in 2013.

The statement noted that the citizenship of a senator may only be questioned "if said Senator changed his/her citizenship after being proclaimed as a Senator, or if said Senator concealed his/her foreign citizenship when he/she filed his/her Certificate of Candidacy."

The senator's lawyers stressed that this is not the case for Poe since she did not change her citizenship after being proclaimed and she did not conceal information about her life and background.

"From the very start, the entire country knows that Sen. Grace Poe is a foundling and was adopted by a kind-hearted couple, [Fernando Poe Jr.] and Susan Roces," Poe's lawyers said.

Poe also submitted her citizenship and travel documents to the SET to support her claim that she is a natural-born Filipino.