Votes ‘stolen:’ Grace Poe says 2004 debates alone did not cause FPJ’s loss

Sen. Grace Poe. File photo / Screengrab / Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — “I still believe that the Filipino people know their votes for FPJ were stolen.”

Senator Grace Poe on Monday said this after Manila Mayor Isko Moreno’s campaign strategist, Lito Banayo, claimed her father’s refusal to attend debates and interviews affected his presidential bid in 2004.

“For a campaign strategist as seasoned as Lito, I’m surprised he would largely attribute the results of the 2004 elections to a single aspect of the campaign. It’s almost as if he forgot about the ‘hello Garci scandal’ and other election-related issues of the past,” Poe said in a statement when sought for comment on Banayo’s remarks.

While Poe recognized the importance of a debate, she said she does not believe this alone affected her father’s campaign in 2004.

“While I don’t discount the merits of a debate, I also don’t believe that the 2004 debates alone influenced the majority of the public to shift their preference and support,” she said.

“I still believe that the Filipino people know their votes for FPJ were stolen. Even Sen. Lacson, Lito’s candidate then, can tell Lito that,” she added.

Banayo, in a press conference earlier Monday, mentioned the late actor’s refusal to attend debates and interviews when asked if the disqualification case against Moreno’s fellow presidential aspirant former senator Bongbong Marcos, along with the developments at the Commission on Elections, would have any effect on the Manila mayor’s campaign.

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JPV