Grace Poe qualified to seek higher office in 2016, Escudero says

Senator Grace Poe (left) and Senator Francis Escudro. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Grace Poe is qualified to run for either president or vice president since she has been a resident of the Philippines since 2005, her close friend and ally, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Wednesday.

This was contrary to Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco’s claim that Poe is not qualified to run for a higher post in 2016 since she does not meet the 10-year residency requirement. Tiangco cited Poe’s own declaration in her certificate of candidacy (COC) when she ran for senator, which showed that she was a resident of the Philippines for six years and six months by Election Day, May 13, 2013.

By Election Day in 2016, Tiangco said, Poe would have resided in the Philippines for only nine years and six months—six months short of the requirement.

READ: Grace Poe not eligible for presidency, says UNA | Poe ‘comfortable’ with Escudero as her VP

But Escudero said that as far as he knows, Poe has been a resident of the Philippines earlier than what she declared in her COC.

“Sa pagkakaalam ko nga mas maaga pa s’yang nakatira dito e. (Year) 2005 alam ko nandito na s’ya e (As far as I know (Poe) lived here earlier. I think she was here already in 2005),” Escudero said in a phone interview.

“Ngayon kung ang punto ni Toby (Tiangco) ay ito: ‘Mas maaga pala bakit hindi nilagay ‘yun du’n?’ E ‘di inaamin n’ya bang totoo ‘yun? Kung inaamin n’yang totoo ‘yun, actual residency ‘yun, which qualifies her,” he pointed out.

(Now, if Toby’s point is: “If it’s earlier then why did (Poe) not put that (date) in her COC?” So using that argument (on actual date not being included in the COC), is he admitting its veracity? If he recognizes it as the actual residency, that qualifies her.)

But Escudero said Tiangco should have known better because his aunt, Leyte Representative Imelda Marcos, also declared a seven-month residency when she ran in 1995 when the requirement was one-year residency.

“Ang sabi ng Supreme Court, it’s the fact of residence, not a statement you made in the COC that will determine residence for purposes of qualifying as a candidate. So siguro naman nakwento sa kanya ‘yun ‘di ba at siguro naman alam n’ya ‘yun dahil malapit n’yang kamag-anak ‘yun. Kaya hindi ko alam kung bakit ginagamit n’ya ‘yun ngayon,” he said of Tiangco.

(The Supreme Court said it’s the fact of residence, not a statement you made in the COC that will determine residence for purposes of qualifying as a candidate. Maybe (Tiangco) is aware of it since he is a close relative of (Marcos). I don’t know why he is using that argument now.)

Asked why Poe had not declared her actual number of years of her residency when they filed their COCs, Escudero pointed out that because the COC ’s wordings were: “duration or length of residency in the PH before May 2013.”

“Ano ang ibig sabihin n’un? Ang iba, ang interpretasyon counting from May 2013. Ang problema hindi naman nilagay kasi on May 13, 2013 or before May 13, 2013. Depende na sayo kung ano ang interpretasyon mo…Kay Imelda kasi ganun ang nangyari. Sabi n’ya, ‘honest mistake, hindi ko naintindihan e.’ Imelda na ito ha,” he pointed out.

(What does that mean? Some interpreted it as counting from May 2013. The problem is it does not say on May 13, 2013 or before May 13, 2013. It depends upon your interpretation. That’s what happened to Imelda. She said, “it was an honest mistake, I didn’t understand it.” We’re talking of Imelda here)

“So sabi nga ng korte honest mistake will not disqualify you because it’s the fact of residence. So kung sinasabi ni Toby na iba nakalagay du’n tandaan n’ya, hindi ito certificate of candidacy ni Grace for president or vice president, ang ginagamit n’ya laban kay Grace ni hindi pa deklaradong kandidato, certificate of candidacy n’ya nang tumakbo syang senador, ebidensya lang y’un,” said Escudero.

(So the court said, honest mistake will not disqualify you because it’s the fact of residence (that counts)…Tiangco should remember, that we’re not talking here of Grace ’s COC for president or vice president, which he is using against Poe, an undeclared candidate—we’re just talking of her COC when she ran for senator, that’s only an evidence.)

In the case of Marcos, Escudero said, the mistake was in the COC itself when she ran in 1995.

“And yet sabi ng Korte hindi controlling yan, settled jurisprudence na ‘yan . Ang sabi ko nga imposibleng hindi naman n’ya (Tiangco) alam ‘yun,” he added.

(And yet the court said, it’s not controlling, that’s already a settled jurisprudence. As I said, it’s impossible that (Tiangco) doesn’t know that.)

“Sa kaso ni Grace kulang pa yata ‘yung nilagay n’ya e dahil s pagkakaalam ko 2005 ay actually nandito na s’ya e. In fact ang alam ko rin, if I remember correctly 2006, enrolled na n’ya mga anak n’ya dito…” he further said.

(In the case of Grace, it seems like she was not able to write the complete information because as far as I know, she was already here in 2005. In fact, if I remember correctly, she already enrolled her kids here in 2006.) IDL