Poe says DNA tests yielded no results

ANGELES CITY—Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe on Friday said two sets of DNA tests, which her camp had requested to establish her parentage, yielded no results because the samples collected were too degraded.

But Poe said the disqualification cases she is facing due to questions about her citizenship are not dependent on these tests.

“The bodies that were exhumed were not viable [to provide DNA samples]. These were too degraded,” Poe said, referring to her supposed relatives in Guimaras, Iloilo.

She confirmed earlier that the first set of samples that were taken in November last year came from three people who claimed to be related to her alleged biological mother.

Among those tested were samples taken from Lorena Dechaves, who claimed to be Poe’s aunt, and two women identified only as Malin and Magdalena, who claimed to be her sisters.

Another set of samples was obtained from Poe’s alleged mother, Victoria Rodriguez, and three relatives of Poe’s alleged father, Paquito Montañez.

She said her lawyers were waiting for the official DNA results. “I do not expect [that our DNA samples] would match,” she said, without elaborating.

The first batch of DNA tests involved samples taken from the children of the late Edgardo Militar of Iloilo City, who was believed to be her biological father.

Poe was abandoned as a baby at Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral there, and found by Rosario Militar, sister-in-law of Edgardo Militar.

Poe was adopted by the late movie action king, Fernando Poe Jr., and his wife, actress Susan Roces. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon