Poe sees no Comelec relief on disqualification case
Embattled presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares yesterday expressed belief she won’t find any relief from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that is hearing the various petitions to disqualify her from the May 2016 elections.
In a televised press conference live from Iloilo City, Poe said she and her supporters are already expecting the poll body’s First Division to issue an adverse ruling on the other disqualification cases pending before its office.
“Alam kong hindi magiging madali ang lakbay na ito. Handa naman ako eh. Sa aking nakikita, mukhang magiging malabo ang desisyon din ng Comelec na papanig sa amin (I know that this fight is not easy. But I’m prepared nonetheless. In my assessment, I think it's unlikely that the Comelec decision will side with us),” Poe lamented.
Poe earlier criticized the Comelec’s First Division for giving weight to the petition of lawyer Estrella Elamparo who said she committed “material misrepresentation” for failing to complete the 10-year residency requirement for candidates seeking a higher government position, while ignoring the voluminous documents attesting that she has been in the country since 2005.
“Hintayin na lang natin kung ano man ito pero kung ano man ang magiging desisyon nila, nais ko munang basahin kung talagang kinunsidira nila ang aming mga isinumiteng documents (Let’s just wait whatever their decision is and I want to read first if they indeed considered the documents we submitted),” Poe said.
Wishing for blood relatives Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public information and mass media, is back in Iloilo to conduct an investigation on the attempted break-in of armed men with suspected ties to illegal drugs in a radio station in Iloilo.
In an interview with reporters after the hearing, Poe said she dearly wished that she could actually meet up with blood relatives in Iloilo though a reunion with the Militar family whom she first suspected to have had blood ties with.
Poe, who is facing citizenship and residency issues, is a foundling adopted by the late actor and former presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and veteran actress Susan Roces.
She was abandoned and found in a church in Jaro as a baby before being adopted by the couple.
Poe said that though they stand by their legal arguments, having her blood relatives publicly known would end all speculations and make it easy for her. The senator had earlier admitted to undergoing DNA test twice but these yielded negative results.