Susan as poll bet? A joke, says KNP

It was nothing but a joke.

Fernando Poe Jr.’s wife, actress Susan Roces, is not running in her husband’s stead if the movie actor is disqualified from the presidential race, Poe spokesman Rod Reyes said yesterday.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hear on Monday a petition seeking Poe’s disqualification because of legal questions on his citizenship.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay, an ally of President Arroyo, challenged Poe’s camp to present "hard evidence" proving that Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen. Under the law, naturalized Filipino citizens may not run for president.

In an interview with reporters Saturday, opposition senatorial candidate Ernesto Maceda said Roces might possibly take up the opposition’s standard-bearer if her husband is disqualified.

"He just said it in jest after being asked by reporters," Reyes said.

Lawyer Victorino Fornier, who filed the disqualification petition, claims Poe is not a Filipino citizen because his father was a Spanish citizen and his mother was an American.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, whose Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino faction backs Poe, said they will pick someone from their ranks to take up the opposition’s standard if Poe is disqualified.

"It’s not a problem for us in the remote event. That is not a problem because we have many talents. That will be the easiest problem that we will resolve," he said.

"What the administration should answer to the people is why they don’t want to win in an honest, fair-and-square elections instead of raising technicalities to disqualify Poe," Angara added.

Poe’s camp believes that Malacañang is behind the disqualification petition and that Fornier is a front man.

Palace officials deny the charge. Fornier insists that the petition was his own initiative and that he wanted to set the record straight.

In a separate interview, Maceda said he was not serious about the idea of Roces running for president the same way former President Corazon Aquino challenged the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Mrs. Aquino led the political opposition after her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated in 1983. She ran against Marcos in the 1986 snap presidential elections.

Marcos won the election by fraud but was exiled shortly by a peaceful popular uprising that would be known as the EDSA people power revolt.

"My personal statement on the possibility of Ms. Roces would be fielded as the opposition’s standard bearer was made in a light moment," Maceda said.

"If they think that disqualifying FPJ they will be able to win the elections, they are wrong. If you have somebody like Susan Roces, who can be as strong as FPJ, how can they win against the opposition? But that is my own stand," he said.

Maceda made the statement during a gathering Saturday of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) election candidates that included Poe, running mate Sen. Loren Legarda and their senatorial slate at the Makati City home of Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta.

"All of us were actually laughing when former senator Maceda said that during the fellowship night," Reyes said.

Poe supporters have said they will stage mass protests if Poe is disqualified.

Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Poe’s spokesman, said their camp will submit documents tomorrow proving Poe’s citizenship.

Lawyer Demaree Raval, the KNP’s legal counsel, said they are prepared to make their case.

At a press conference Monday, Sotto presented a document showing that Poe’s father, Allan Fernando Poe, was a decorated Philippine Army officer in World War II.

The document stated that Poe’s father, Allan Fernando Poe, was awarded the Gold Cross for gallantry while under "furious and intense enemy bombing and strafing" during the war. It was dated Sept. 27, 1945, and signed by Maj. Gen. Basilio Valdez, chief of staff of the Philippine Army.

Sotto did not say exactly where and when Poe’s father saw action.

Malacañang said it would welcome Roces’ candidacy. "We have always welcomed candidates filing for the presidency. We welcome Mr. Fernando Poe Jr. and surely, if there will be a substitution, we would welcome Mrs. Susan Roces as a candidate for president," Arroyo campaign spokesman Michael Defensor said.

Some Arroyo congressional allies, however, said Poe’s backers are "really stretching the popularity of movie stars too much, unmindful of the credentials of their candidates."

"Not that Susan Roces is not qualified to become president. Only God knows. But it is very obvious that Poe backers are out to get to Malacañang no matter what their candidates’ credentials are. Is this patriotism? Is this love for the common man?" Bulacan Rep. Wilfrido Villarama said in a statement.

"The opposition is preparing for an option because it knows the disqualification case against Poe has a basis," Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano said.

"It is a mockery of the presidential polls because they will allow anyone to run without regard to qualifications, capability and preparation for it," Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles said. — With Paolo Romero, Marichu Villanueva, Jose Aravilla