The lawyer who filed the disqualification case against Senator Grace Poe that was granted by the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) second division was not connected with the Liberal Party (LP), Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday.
READ: Comelec 2nd division disqualifies Grace Poe from presidential race
Drilon, vice president of LP, said he himself does not even know lawyer Estrella Elamparo, the petitioner at the Comelec.
READ: Poe faces new poll disqualification suit
Asked in an interview if Elamparo was connected with the LP, the Senate leader said: “No, not at all. No, I don’t know her, and she is not connected, just to be clear.”
Drilon pointed out that the decision of the Comelec’s body was in accordance with the law and not because the LP’s standard-bearer, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, would benefit if Poe would be disqualified from the 2016 presidential race.
In fact, he noted that one of the five member-senators who voted against another disqualification case against Poe at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) was an LP member.
Drilon was apparently referring to Senator Bam Aquino. The four other members who voted in favor of Poe at the SET were Senators Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar, Pia Cayetano and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
“Uulitin ko lang, ang issue doon sa citizenship ay pareho doon sa Comelec at sa SET. Sa SET, ang aming miyembro na si Senator Bam Aquino, voted in favor of Senator Grace Poe. Ang Comelec naman, voted against her. So talagang kanya-kanya iyang pag-assess ng batas at ng facts na naiharap sa tribunal,” he further said.