Grace Poe residency is ‘simple arithmetic’

INDEPENDENT presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe meeting the 10-year residency requirement is “simple arithmetic,” according to a senatorial candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

“One need not be a lawyer to see that Sen. Grace Poe has surpassed the 10-year residency requirement to run for president,” said Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian.

“The residency issue is simple arithmetic,” he said, as he assailed the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division stating that Poe did not meet the ten-year residency requirement to run for the presidency.

In a statement, Gatchalian, who is running for senator under Poe’s senatorial slate, said he may not be a lawyer like the members of the Comelec’s second division but “I know how to count.”

Resounding yes

“Based on the 10-year residency requirement to be qualified to run for President, a candidate must have been a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years prior to election day, which is May 9, 2016. Therefore, the threshold date is May 8, 2006,” he said.

“The relevant question now is, did Senator Grace do anything prior to May 8, 2006, to show that she intended to permanently reside in the Philippines? The facts resoundingly say yes,” said Gatchalian.

As early as 2005

According to Gatchalian, Poe’s lawyers provided the Comelec with evidence “that clearly shows that Senator Grace intended to live in the country as early as 2005.”

Gatchalian said the senatorial candidates running with Poe would stand by their standard bearer.