Poe: Disqualification cases won’t succeed

Sen. Grace Poe FILE PHOTO

Sen. Grace Poe was confident that the disqualification cases filed against her would not succeed as her spokesperson lamented that the “barrage of petitions” was turning the electoral process into a “circus.”

In a text message to reporters on Tuesday, Poe said she was qualified to run for president because based on the law, she was a natural-born citizen who had complied with the required residency in the country of not less than 10 years.

“Ako ay patuloy na nananalig sa merito ng aking legal na katayuan na ako ay kwalipikadong tumakbo bilang pangulo sapagkat nasa panig ko ang batas na ako ay isang natural-born citizen at natugunan ang tinakdang hindi kukulang sampung taon na paninirahan sa bansa,” Poe said.

She said the third disqualification case filed against her, like the first two cases, would not succeed, allowing voters to choose the leader they want via fair elections and in accordance with the law.

“Ang pangatlong petisyon na inihain ay bilang bahagi ng demokrasya ay, gaya ng naunang dalawa, hindi magtatagumpay upang mabigyang daan ang karapatan ng taong-bayan makapamili ng nais nilang lider ayon sa batas at sa patas na halalan,” she added.

Poe was reacting to the new petition seeking the cancellation of her certificate of candidacy (COC) for president filed by political science professor Antonio Contreras at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday afternoon.

The first petition that sought to unseat Poe in the Senate was lodged by defeated senatorial bet Rizalito David at the Comelec and the Senate Electoral Tribunal.

But after she filed her COC last Friday, another petition seeking the cancellation of Poe’s COC was immediately filed by Estrella Elamparo also at the Comelec. This was followed by another petition filed by former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad on Monday.

READ: New disqualification case filed vs Poe in Comelec

Meanwhile, Poe’s spokesperson, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, has decried the series of disqualification cases filed against the senator.

“It seems that all these petitions are meant to condition the minds of the voters that Senator Poe will be disqualified. In their quest to achieve that malicious objective, the barrage of petitions being filed is already turning the electoral process into a circus,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

READ: Poe camp: ‘Sinister minds’ behind disqualification cases

“To reiterate, Senator Poe is ready to answer all these unfounded petitions in the proper forum point per point. In fact, the documents to answer these allegations have already been made public,” he said.

“It is our observation that these series of petitions are aimed at sowing confusion. It’s turning the electoral process into a mockery because why can they just not wait for the initial one to be decided on. Clearly, these people do not respect our electoral process, and we will not allow them to do so,” Gatchalian added. Maila Ager/RC