Bones of possible Grace Poe parents dug up for tests

JUNIE Rodriguez and Teresa Rodriquez-Victoriano believe Sen. Grace Poe is a daughter of their elder sister Victoria. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—The family of two deceased men, a father and his son, whose remains were exhumed in Guimaras province believe that one of them could be the biological father of Sen. Grace Poe, according to Guimaras Vice Gov. Vicente de Asis.

The bodies of Francisco Montañez and his son, Paquito, were exhumed last Wednesday to obtain specimens for DNA testing.

According to De Asis, the Montañez family believes that Paquito could be the biological father of Poe as Francisco was deemed too old to father a child.

But Francisco was also a frequent visitor of Victoria Rodriguez, the “suspected” mother of Poe, even late at night, said De Asis, quoting Leopoldo Montañez, Francisco’s surviving son.

Siblings of Victoria Rodriguez have said Poe could be the second of four daughters of their sister.

They believe Poe was the baby brought to Iloilo City shortly after she was born in Barangay Avila, Buenavista, in Guimaras and eventually adopted by show biz couple Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

The claim of the Rodriguez family contradicts the popular account that Poe was found as a newborn in the baptismal font of the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City in 1968.

De Asis, a Poe supporter who is running for the lone congressional district of Guimaras in next year’s elections, was one of those who witnessed the exhumation of the remains of Victoria, Francisco and Paquito at the public cemetery in East Valencia village on Wednesday.

Hired workers and family members first exhumed the remains of Victoria then those of the two men, some 50 feet away.

The workers had some difficulty digging up the remains of Paquito, who was buried under two concrete tombs, De Asis said.

Bone samples were taken from the skeletal remains before they were reinterred.

The samples were taken to Manila and will be subjected to DNA testing to determine if the three were related to Poe. With Christine Avendaño