Video by Ryan Leagogo
VICE President Jejomar Binay said that he and his political party, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), would not join moves in challenging the citizenship or residency of Senator Grace Poe before a court despite being the first ones who exposed it to the public.
At the sidelines of a media forum on Wednesday, Binay said that it is an obligation of a presidential aspirant to clear his or her qualifications.
“Palagay ko hindi naman kami [sasali] riyan. ‘Yon naman po is an obligation. It is a requirement that any candidate, may qualification requirement ang batas (I believe that we will not participate in challenging Poe’s citizenship in court. It is an obligation. It is a requirement of any candidate and there are qualification requirements as provided by law),” Binay said.
He said that he would not do anything to weaken the bond he had with the senator’s late father, National Artist and King of Philippine Movies Fernando Poe Jr.
“Hindi ko malilimutan ang pagsasamahan namin ni FPJ. Hindi ho ako susuong sa mga bagay-bagay na makakalimutan ko ’yong samahan namin ni FPJ. Kami, sa hirap at ginhawa, magkasama kami no’ng ginugusto n’yang maging presidente ng bansa,” the vice president added.
(I will not forget my friendship with FPJ. I will not do things which will erase that friendship. Despite all odds, we were together when he ran for president).
Binay became FPJ’s campaign manager in 2004.
It was UNA interim president and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco who first revealed that Poe is ineligible to run for a higher position in the 2016 polls because she failed to satisfy the 10-year residency requirement needed to run for president.
Poe has denied Tiangco’s claims, saying that she has been living in the country since 2005 months after her father’s death in December 2004.
Tiangco then denied that Binay has a hand in his expose against Poe and has since apologized for causing a rift between the vice president and the senator. AC