Poe: Adverse SC ruling will be sad

It would be both “tragic and sad” if the Supreme Court stopped her from running for President because she is a foundling, Sen. Grace Poe said on Thursday, shedding tears at the thought that she would be denied the chance of doing more for the country.

But though she had been derisively called American, labeled too ambitious and told she could not be a candidate for President because she did not know who her biological parents were, Poe said the presidency was still worth the fight.

Poe will be unable to run if she is disqualified because of her residency, but if the Supreme Court disqualifies her for not being a natural-born Filipino since she is a foundling, she stands to lose her Senate seat as well. Only natural-born Filipinos can run for national office.

“If the ruling includes my situation as a foundling, that also removes my position now in the Senate, and that will be tragic and sad,” Poe said at the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum on Thursday.

“It was an opportunity for me to be able to contribute greatly and in a faster way support our countrymen whatever I felt would be good for their welfare,” she added.

While she could still do many things for the country with or without being in the government, “it’s such a waste,” she said.

Still optimistic

“With my loss, thousands will be affected by this loss adversely, so I would rather stay on the side of optimism,” she said.

She would abide by the Supreme Court’s decision, whatever it would be, but she would “exhaust all legal means” available to her in fighting for her case, she said.

She added that she was keeping a positive view of her case. “I remain hopeful and very positive that we have offered to the Supreme Court the truth and also that we have a very viable legal standing,” she said.

“I offered to the Supreme Court not only my situation, but also the situation of hundreds of thousands of foundlings in the same plight,” she added.

 

DQ cases

Poe has asked the Supreme Court to overturn two decisions by the Commission on Elections to disqualify her from May’s presidential election on the grounds that she is not a natural-born Filipino because she is a foundling and that she did not meet the 10-year residency requirement for candidates.

The high court has heard oral arguments on the cases, and is expected to hand down a ruling in time for the printing of the ballots next month.

At least two justices have indicated in their questionings of the parties that the court views the question of Poe’s citizenship with utmost caution, as an adverse ruling could have unintended consequences for generations of abandoned Filipino children.

 

Worth the fight

That has given her a glimmer of hope, though it has not eased the impact of the attacks by her detractors who are seeking to take her out of the race because of her unknown origins.

Asked at the forum yesterday if running for President was still worth it, Poe had to take a moment to blink away tears before answering.

Then she gave a thumbs-up and said emotion should not be mistaken for weakness.

It was worth the fight, she said, going through what she had achieved so far as a senator, including providing funds in the budget for feeding hungry children.

“I realized what a privilege it is to be in a position to help our countrymen. I mean, it’s worth the fight. It’s worth the fight if you feel that you can institute change at a faster pace and that it could be felt by those in need,” she said.

Even when her hands are tied on certain issues because all she can do is legislate, she can still help by working for changes in the budget or exercising her oversight role, she said.

As to questions about her loyalty to the Philippines arising from her once having renounced her Filipino citizenship, Poe said none of her actions violated the Ten Commandments.

Her situation—moving to the United States with her new husband to look for better jobs and be independent from their parents—reflected the circumstances of many Filipinos, whom the state had failed to give jobs, she said.

She said she had no long-term political plans when she decided to become a US citizen for her family. She stands by her decision, she said.

Fresh perspective

Her stay in the United States also taught her valuable lessons that she could not have learned had she remained in the Philippines, she said.

“If I didn’t live there, I would not have experienced nonentitlement, being an ordinary citizen,” she said.

Her different kind of experience gave her a different view of government, she said.

“And so I bring a new perspective to what governance should be in our country,” she said.

“We always say think out of the box. But most of them who are in [the government] have always been inside the box,” she added.

Many of the country’s problems are not new, she said, and she sees them from a fresh perspective, from “a different facet of experience, which I think is what we need at this point.”

And those who say she lacks experience should not forget to consider what she has gone through as a mother, as a private citizen, and as an employee in a private company, she said.

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