Poe camp asks Comelec to dismiss DQ case

MANILA, Philippines – The camp of Sen. Grace Poe has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to dismiss the disqualification case filed against the senator by Rizalito David now that the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) has ruled that she is a natural-born Filipino.

Poe’s lawyer George Garcia yesterday said that a motion for dismissal of David’s complaint would be part of the manifestation they will file on Dec. 1 before the Comelec.

In the manifestation, Garcia said that they will officially inform the Comelec about the ruling handed down by the SET junking the disqualification case against Poe that was also filed by David.

David, a losing candidate in the 2013 senatorial elections where Poe got the most number of votes, sought the disqualification of Poe as a senator on the basis of his claim that she was not a natural-born Filipino.

The SET recently ruled in favor of Poe with a vote of 5 to 4.

“We strongly believe that the SET win means there is no misrepresentation in the COC (certificate of candidacy) she filed when she ran for the Senate in 2013,” Garcia said.

Garcia said a separate memorandum will be filed on Dec. 3 for the three other disqualification cases filed by former senator Francisco Tatad, political science professor Antonio Contreras and former University of the East College of Law dean Amado Valdez. 

Sen. Francis Escudero, the running mate of Poe for the 2016 elections, said that the case filed by David before the Comelec was criminal in nature because it dealt with an alleged election offense.

Escudero noted that David’s claim was that Poe lied in her COC for senator in 2013 by declaring that she was a natural-born Filipino.

“So when the SET decided that it was true that she was natural-born, then the alleged lying never happened,” he said.

Escudero added that the Comelec suspended its deliberations on the criminal aspect of the petitions against Poe while it was waiting for the ruling of the SET.

“The SET has released its decision so that becomes the basis for saying that the case is extinguished because the basis for the criminal case was there was misrepresentation, which the SET rejected,” Escudero said.

Almost all of the opponents of Poe for the presidency in 2016 have used the issue of citizenship against her, including Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, who said that “all of us do not want a foreigner to become the president.”

Poe said that the statement coming from Roxas was somewhat surprising to her, considering that she was part of the LP’s coalition in the 2013 elections and was even asked to be the running mate of Roxas.

Before she announced her bid for the presidency, Poe met with President Aquino several times to discuss plans for the 2016 elections.

At the time, Aquino had not yet proclaimed Roxas as the LP’s standard bearer and it was widely speculated that Poe was being considered as either the administration’s presidential or vice presidential candidate.

“I find it hard to believe that they do not know my background, especially since I ran under their coalition in 2013. This is something that surprised many people because why did they even want me to be their vice president?” Poe said.

Poe has vowed to continue fighting for the rights of all foundlings like her, who should be given the right to serve the country without having to go through so much hardships.

“It would be very sad to think that a person or a child might have to endure the injustices and the cruel words that I’ve gone through in the past months,” Poe said.