Grace submits citizenship, travel papers to SET

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Grace Poe has submitted her citizenship and travel records to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) to prove that she is a natural-born Filipino.

Poe submitted a 107-page verified document to the SET on Sept. 1 to counter the disqualification case filed against her by losing senatorial bet Rizalito David.

Among the proofs submitted by Poe was a 2006 Bureau of Immigration (BI) certification upholding her natural citizenship.

VIEW: Grace Poe's personal files, US listing on citizenship

The BI order dated July 18, 2006, approved by then immigration commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr., through associate commissioner Roy Almoro, declared that Poe is “presumed to be a natural born Filipino” for being a former citizen of the Philippines.

The BI had approved Poe’s application for the retention and re-acquisition of her Filipino citizenship as well as that of her three children pursuant to Republic Act 9225 or the Dual Citizenship Law. They submitted their application on July 10, 2006.

Poe submitted records showing she had renounced her American citizenship on Oct. 21, 2010 when she took her oath during her previous appointments to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

She reaffirmed this renunciation in 2011 before a vice consul at the United States embassy in Manila.

The STAR obtained copies of the documents Poe submitted to the SET, which is chaired by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.