Search for Poe’s roots stirs Guimaras

BUENAVISTA, Guimaras—Paquito Montañez was struck by lightning when he was 23 years old while on a boat in the middle of the sea in 1975.

Could he be the father of Sen. Grace Poe, who was born in 1968 when Montañez was 17? Or could it be his father, Francisco?

Members of the Montañez family in this second-class municipality (annual income: P45 million-P55 million) want to find out even it could also mean putting their family’s name on the line.

“At first, I felt ashamed to come out, but it will also be good for our family if the questions are answered,” Gregorio Montañez told the Inquirer. They accepted the possibility that his father, or elder brother, could have impregnated Victoria Rodriguez, who is believed to be Poe’s biological mother.

“I do not know the truth. Only the (DNA) tests will tell,” said Gregorio, 58, the sixth of eight siblings.

Exhumation

The skeletal remains of Victoria and the two men were exhumed last week at a public cemetery in East Valencia village to gather samples for DNA testing as part of efforts to determine the identity of Poe’s biological parents.

Poe, who topped the 2013 senatorial race, has been disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from the presidential race this May on issues of citizenship and residency requirements. The poll body has ruled that she could not prove that she is a natural-born citizen as she is a foundling.

According to popular accounts, the senator was abandoned and found in the baptismal font of the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City in 1968.

The Rodriguez family believes that Poe is the second of four daughters of Victoria who was brought to Iloilo City and later adopted by celebrity couple Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

Gregorio’s elder brother, Leopoldo, earlier said it was unlikely that their father could have sired Poe as he was already old at that time.

When the Inquirer spoke with him last week, Leopoldo said Francisco was 85 years old when he died in 2011. But he admitted that he had poor memory.

In a separate interview, Gregorio said their father was 84 when he died 10 to 15 years ago. This would place Francisco’s age between 42 and 52 when Poe was born.

The Montañez siblings said it was only now that the issue was raised about the paternity of Victoria’s second daughter, who is believed to be Poe. “I was a young boy then and we were not allowed to be part of discussions of adults,” Gregorio said.

Leopoldo said the two families were close since their houses were only about 150 meters apart in Barangay East Valencia.

Leopoldo, who is married to a younger sister of Victoria, said Victoria often visited the Montañez house.

Paquito was also a frequent visitor of Victoria’s family.

Guimaras Vice Gov. Vicente de Asis, a Poe supporter who is running for representative of the province’s lone congressional district, cited the possibility that one of the Montañez men was the biological father of Poe. He said the chance that Poe was a daughter of Victoria was “greater.”

Baptismal photo

De Asis cited a photograph taken during the baptism of Poe at Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City where another character in the unfolding drama on the search for Poe’s parents, Corazon Javellana, was also present.

Javellana, who also hails from East Valencia, is believed to have brought the second daughter of Victoria to Iloilo City when the baby was just a few days old. She later told the Rodriguez family that the baby was in good hands and living in the big house of an affluent family.

At one time, Javellana had told Victoria’s mother, Jovita, that the child was with Susan Roces, according to Victoria’s younger brother, Junie, in an earlier interview.

Gregorio, who was among the three Montañez siblings who had DNA samples taken, said they hope the tests would put to rest the questions and suspicions on Poe’s citizenship.

Samples were also taken from six members of the Rodriguez family aside from those earlier taken from Victoria’s sister, Lorena Dechavez, and Victoria’s two surviving daughters—Mayin, 40, and Magdalena, 38.

Results of the tests are expected this month.