Poe should start counting residency after renouncing US citizenship—Roque

Lawyer Harry Roque RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Counting the years of residency, Senator Grace Poe should start during the time she renounced her United States (US) citizenship, lawyer Harry Roque said Thursday.

“So sa akin, from the time of renunciation doon ka pa lang magkakaroon ng residency,” Roque told Radyo Inquirer 990AM in an interview.

Poe said she gave up her US citizenship only in 2010 when she became chairwoman of the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

“By 2016, six years pa lang siya na may residency dito sa Pilipinas,” he said.

While Roque said Poe regained her being a natural born Filipino when she renounced her US citizenship, the lawyer maintained the senator lacked residency requirement under the constitution.

“The requirement is aged 40 years old, 10 years of residency, and being a natural born Filipino, so she has to comply with all three,” he said.

He said Poe could not use the defense “animus revertendi” or the intention to return since it applies only to those who have completed the 10-year residency rule.

Poe has declared in her certificate of candidacy when she ran as senator in 2013 that her residency in the country is at six years and six months prior to the May 2013 elections.

Roque said if someone has given up her dual citizenship, she must register “instruments of renunciation.”

“It is a very specific requirement applicable for the dual citizen who wants to enter in government, so there must be renunciation then registration. Kasi nga, nakasulat doon sa dual citizenship law, you really have to comply with the other requirements of the position you want to occupy, and for the President, that us the 10-year residency,” he said.

Poe, however, said she has been living in the Philippines since 2005.

She said she could prove her claim, saying her children began to go to school in the country in June 2005. With Sheen Limbo, trainee/ TVJ

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