Poe: I didn’t give go signal for exhumation of ‘relatives’

Senator Grace Poe at the Meet the Inquirer Multimedia forum. SCREENGRAB FROM INQUIRER.NET LIVESTREAM

Senator Grace Poe expressed sadness when she learned that some of the bodies of her suspected blood relatives in Guimaras were exhumed last month and clarified that she did not give the go signal for their exhumation.

Poe said that she was horrified upon learning the exhumation of the skeletal remains of Victoria Rodriguez and two males from Barangay (village) East Valencia cemetery in Buenavista town in Guimaras province last December 30.

“I learned through media that they exhumed the bodies I was horrified that they did it. I am sorry but I did not give the go signal for them to do it. Everybody can attest to it,” the presidential hopeful said during the Meet the Inquirer forum on Thursday.

READ: Bones of possible Grace Poe parents dug up for tests

The senator said that while she did not green light the exhumation, she said that the responsibility falls on her lap.

“I take responsibility that they did it,” she said.

She also clarified that it was the Rodriguez family who went forward and volunteered for the exhumation.

“It was the family that actually went forward and asked for this because they felt that it is the best way they can help and I am truly grateful,” the senator said.

READ: Tracing Poe’s bloodline to Guimaras

Asked on how she felt with the exhumation of her supposed relatives, Poe said: “It is truly sad to stoop that low to prove that you are a citizen of this country.”

Meanwhile, in the same forum, Poe shot down rumors of her biological parents, such as being the child of her aunt Rosemarie Sonora and the late Cardinal Jaime Cardinal Sin. CDG