Duterte to Pinoys: Vote for Trump or Clinton

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte told the people that if they want an American for president, they should vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

This was the statement of the Davao mayor in a campaign rally at the Our Lady of Lourdes College in Barangay Gen. T. De Leon in Valenzuela City the other night, after the Supreme Court (SC) issued a ruling on Tuesday allowing Sen. Grace Poe to run for president. 

“Baka two years after, kung may magsabi, may makitang ebidensya at sabihing Amerikano talaga iyan, naloko na. Mas mabuti pa kay Trump na lang kayo bumoto o kay Hillary, pareho lang rin (maybe two years from now, evidence will come out that she is really an American, there will be chaos. Better to vote for Trump or Hillary because it would be the same thing),” Duterte said, comparing Poe to the leading contenders in US presidential elections in November.

Critics have claimed that Poe is an American citizen and lacks the 10-year residency requirement for presidential aspirants.

Poe became a naturalized US citizen after she got married, but claimed that she had renounced her American citizenship and had since fulfilled the residency requirement.

Poe’s spokesman Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said that Poe “will not engage these tirades against her and she will instead focus on her advocacy and platform for a government with a heart.”  

Duterte told reporters before the campaign rally that he does not agree with the SC decision allowing Poe to run for president, saying that this was contrary to the lessons taught in law school. 

“I don’t agree, I respect it, but I don’t agree with it kasi magtanong ka sa kahit na sinong abogado, isang semester yang political law, kabaliktaran lahat ng sinabi ng mga professors namin (if you ask any lawyer, political law was taken up for one semester and everything in that ruling contradicted our professors’ teachings),” said Duterte, who is a lawyer.

Duterte previously said that he decided to run for president after he got disappointed over the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) on the disqualification case filed by losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David against Poe. 

David filed a petition before the SET questioning Poe’s residency and citizenship. 

Duterte later said that his presidential bid was no longer about the cases filed against Poe. 

Duterte clarified that he has nothing against Poe and he even urged the people that if they will not vote for him, they should vote for Poe instead of rival presidential candidates Manuel Roxas II and Vice President Jejomar Binay.   

“Well anyway, wala akong masabi kay (I can’t say anything against) Poe because she is a very decent lady, she is very bright and courteous,” he said. 

“It’s only her citizenship I question as a lawyer,” he added. 

Duterte also warned the people of a “chaotic condition” if Poe wins the election, since her nationality will always be in question for the duration of her term.

Duterte lamented how the SC justices voted 9-6 to reverse the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision to disqualify Poe and cancel her certificate of candidacy (COC).

The Comelec disqualified Poe on Dec. 23, 2015, saying she had committed “material misrepresentation” when she claimed in her COC that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and has resided in the Philippines for at least 10 years.

The Supreme Court, however, reversed the Comelec’s decision on March 8 and allowed her to run for president.

“The way we understand it, you are a Filipino once you come out from your mother. You do not have to prove anything. That is a Filipino citizen,” he added.

“It will create a very chaotic condition because it is the exact opposite of what we had studied,” Duterte said.

The Supreme Court justices said Poe can run but they did not say if this was because she is Filipino or because she has complied with the residency requirement. 

“Wala (None). That’s very sweeping,” he added.

For Duterte’s vice presidential runningmate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the SC may have settled the legal issue but the political issues remain.

“The legal and political issues are separate. The legal issue has been settled because the Supreme Court has spoken. Unless they change their mind in the motion for reconsideration when it comes to citizenship and residency,” Cayetano told reporters in the same venue.

He said the Supreme Court has clearly said she is qualified, but the question now is whether she should be president.

Cayetano said the political issues touch on patriotism and the fact remained that Poe had turned her back on being a Filipino by pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States.

Cayetano also said the situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have also switched citizenship is different because they are not running for president. – With Edith Regalado