Poe denies backing out of presidential race

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential candidate Grace Poe yesterday denounced the latest black propaganda launched to mislead the public into believing she has pulled out of the presidential race.

An email sent to reporters covering the Senate yesterday showed a letter purportedly from Poe with the title “Hindi na ako tatakbo sa pagkapangulo” (I will no longer run for president) and sent by a certain Liza Cabigting.

The message, written in Filipino, stated that Poe has decided to stop pursuing the dream of her father Fernando Poe Jr. to become president.

“In front of my father’s tomb, I prayed to be given the strength to make the correct decision. For all those who love me, I want you to know that I am no longer running for president in the coming elections. This decision hurts me but I need to do this for my family and loved ones,” the email read in part.

In an interview with reporters before the start of yesterday’s plenary session at the Senate, Poe said she was shown the email and immediately denounced this as pure fabrication.

“There is no truth to this. The truth is that we will continue our work in delivering the message of what we can do to help our people,” Poe said in Filipino.

Poe said that the black propaganda and other dirty tricks being thrown her way started several months back or even before she filed her certificate of candidacy at the Comelec.

She asked her detractors to stop sowing confusion among the electorate as she stressed that she has no plans of withdrawing from the presidential race and that she would see all her cases to the end.

In a statement, Poe’s spokesman, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, said that the latest black propaganda was a sign that Poe’s opponents are becoming desperate and “are resorting already to cheap cowardly acts that will sow confusion.”

“Sen. Poe remains steadfast in her bid to seek the presidency so that she can further her platforms of good governance, inclusive growth and improving the competitiveness of our country,” Gatchalian said.

“As mentioned before, clearly some of her opponents will resort to all types of left-handed approaches to derail her candidacy. Some of her opponents are becoming so desperate that they are already resorting to all types of smear campaign tactics like this,” he added.

He said that Poe would continue to raise the level of discourse for the coming election and not engage the personalities behind “this cheap act.”

“We will continue to win the hearts of the people through honest platform-based campaigning. Left-handed approaches like this have no place in our electoral system,” Gatchalian said.

10-day extension

Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave Poe 10 days more to answer the disqualification complaint filed against her. Her lawyers initially asked for 30 days or until Dec. 30.

George Erwin Garcia, Poe’s lawyer, said they have to study the cases seriously.

“What was filed against us is (a case for) election offense, (it is) a criminal case and is not a simple disqualification case. We have to study it thoroughly because once we make a mistake in our answer it might cause the imprisonment of our client. So, extension is allowed under the rule of Comelec,” he noted.

He added that they intend to submit it to the Comelec even before Nov. 13 “just to show good faith, that we are not delaying.”

Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, a spokesman for the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), also said Poe’s opponents should not exploit the move of her lawyers to seek an extension in answering the disqualification case. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Paolo Romero