Group allegedly gets money, food packs for cheering Poe, Escudero at Comelec

SOME “supporters” of Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero allegedly received P50, food packs and bottled water after attending the rally in support of their filing of their certificates of candidacy for President and Vice President, respectively, at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila, Thursday.

Accompanied by their family, Poe and Escudero arrived at around 3 p.m. to the loud cheers of thousands of their supporters who massed up outside the Comelec headquarters and in front of the nearby Manila Cathedral.

The tandem of Poe and Escudero is seen as a formidable third force to rival the seasoned and well-oiled political machineries of ruling Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance.

Policemen deployed to maintain order in the area said the crowd which greeted the two senators was bigger than the number of people at the sendoff for Roxas and his running mate, Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo.

But a video taken by the INQUIRER showed that some of those who attended the gathering for Poe and Escudero were given P50 cash, pansit, fried chicken and water.

The video showed a group of men and women huddled in front of a makeshift house along Cabildo Street, Intramuros, while a man was reading names from a yellow paper.

A pedicab driver, who only identified himself as Rudy, said each of them received P50 and food packs as promised by their local leaders.

“P50 is better than getting nothing,” the man said as he carefully wrapped five food packs with a tarpaulin printed with the word “#POE2016.”

He said about 100 of his neighbors in Barangay 658 in Manila were “invited” by local leaders who he refused to identify.

Rudy’s companion, a middle-aged man who declined to give his name, said it was a common practice for politicians to hire residents near the Comelec headquarters.

“We were also there last Monday when Binay (filed his candidacy),” he claimed. “This is nothing. It’s just a token (pakimkim lang).”

Rudy said Roxas’ camp also brought in their own group of supporters when he and Robredo filed their COCs yesterday morning.

“But they came from another barangay,” he said.

In the video, a man wearing a white shirt emblazoned with Poe’s face was seen reading names from a list.

“Melvin… Here. Give it to Melvin,” he said in Filipino as a woman seated on his right gave a paper bill to another man.

In another video, two women were heard speaking about the money which was apparently given to another person.

“Mag-aabono ako nyan (I may have to pay for it),” the woman was heard as saying.

Poe’s camp vehemently denied paying for the people who showed their support for the two senators.

“There is absolutely no truth that supporters who came to send off Senator Poe were paid P50. The massive crowd outside (the) Comelec was a spontaneous gathering of supporters eager to send off (Poe and Escudero) as they filed their COCs,” said Poe’s spokesperson, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian.

Others who showed up at the political rally said they paid for their food and even bought water for their fellow Poe supporters.

Roy Ansing, a businessman from Mandaluyong City, said he, his family and their friends were “all out” for Poe who, he said, was the “only candidate who can bring about genuine change.”

“We’re just tired of seeing trapos (traditional politicians). If we want genuine change, we should vote for the new breed of leaders like Grace Poe,” Ansing said.

Retired Marine Col. Ariel Querubin said Poe’s victory in the 2016 presidential elections would be a “redemption” for him, noting that he helped expose the alleged irregularities during the 2004 general elections.

“I questioned the legitimacy of (then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and was brave enough to say it was FPJ (Fernando Poe Jr.) who won and would have been the President,” Querubin said, referring to Poe’s late father.

“For that reason, I was jailed for four and a half years. Now that she’s running, I’m compelled to support her because if she wins, it will be my redemption,” he said. “I sacrificed my career, my family in bringing out that truth that it was really FPJ who won.”

But Querubin, a decorated Marine who was awarded with the prestigious Medal of Valor for bravery in combat, said he would support the vice presidential bid of fellow soldier Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

“I’m like a father to Trillanes that’s why I asked him to support Grace Poe,” he said.