Poe’s camp to Binay: ‘Sen. Grace Poe is a Filipino’
The camp of Senator Grace Poe defended her citizenship anew raised this time by Vice President Jejomar Binay himself.
“Sen. Grace Poe is a Filipino. As she has repeatedly explained before, she has renounced any foreign citizenship years ago before she entered government service,” her chief of staff, Nelson Victorino, said in a statement.
“Now, she is a Filipino public servant who has taken an oath to serve the best interest of the Filipino people and uphold and defend the laws and the Constitution of our country. She is and will abide by her oath.”
“Ang tunay na batayan ng pagmamahal at katapatan sa bayan ay ‘di lang pagsumpa kundi pagsunod sa sinumpaang tungkulin sa isip at sa gawa, at iyan po ang ginagawa at patuloy na gagawin ni Sen. Poe,” Victorino added.
Poe’s chief of staff was apparently reacting to Binay’s remarks during the 200th birth anniversary of Hermano Pule in Tayabas City.
In his speech, a copy of which was sent to reporters, Binay slammed those who renounced their nationalities to become citizens of other countries.
“Mahal daw nila ang mga Pilipino kaya nais nilang ipagpatuloy ang kanilang manhid at palpak na pamumuno. Mahal daw nila ang mga Pilipino kaya ngayon pa lang ay isinusulong nila na mamuno sa bansa ang taong minsan ay tinalikuran at tinakwil ang pagka-Pilipino. Tamang pagmamahal ba ito sa bayan?” he said.
(They say they love the Filipinos; that’s why they want to continue this insensitive and bungled leadership. They say they love the Filipinos; that’s why this early, they are pushing for the next leader who had once abandoned and renounced the Filipino citizenship. Is that how you love this country?)
Asked later in an interview if he was referring to Poe, Binay said: “Bahala na kayo mag-isip ‘nun (I’ll leave it up to you).”
“Basta’t talagang, nabasa niyo na ba? Nabasa niyo na ba ‘yung oath of allegiance ng isang naturalized citizen? Nakalagay doon ‘to the point of taking arms,'” he added.
It was not the first time that Binay’s camp raised the issue of citizenship against Poe.
JV Bautista, interim secretary general of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, earlier said that Poe could be disqualified from running for president in 2016 and unseated as a member of the Senate for allegedly not being a “natural-born Filipino.”
