Macalintal: Grace Poe’s citizenship not an issue

After renouncing her American citizenship, Sen. Grace Poe “has removed any legal or constitutional impediment to her election as senator and eventually as candidate for President of the country.”

Taking up the cudgels for Poe, who is believed to pose a threat to the 2016 presidential bets, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the senator’s disclosure of her renunciation of her US citizenship should stop the media hounding of Poe with questions on her status as a natural-born Filipino citizen.

“All issues pertaining to Sen. Grace Poe’s status as a natural-born Filipino citizen had been put to rest when she renounced her American citizenship and took her Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines as required under Republic Act No. 9225, the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act, when she was appointed to the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) and ran for senator in the 2013 elections,” Macalintal said in a statement.

“Under Section 3 of RA 9225, she is deemed to have ‘reacquired’ her Philippine citizenship after taking her aforesaid Oath of Allegiance and qualified to an appointive or elective position under Section 5 of RA 9225 after having renounced her American citizenship,” he said.

Poe earlier admitted that she used to hold a dual citizenship status as a resident of the United States for several years.

Macalintal said Poe had reacquired her “natural-born Filipino citizenship” when she repatriated to the Philippines under RA 9225. She cannot ‘reacquire’ something she never had before.

The lawyer said this was the same argument he gave the Supreme Court when he defended Teodoro Cruz who ran for and won as Pangasinan representative in 1998 against Antonio Bengzon, who was then running for reelection.