Palace on DQ: Don’t look at us

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang professed innocence yesterday on the ruling of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) division disqualifying Sen. Grace Poe from the May 2016 presidential race for failure to meet residency and citizenship requirements.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also denied insinuations the verdict of the poll body’s Second Division was a product of politics.

“We have no knowledge of it,” he said. “As responsible government officials, we need to maintain the integrity of the institution.”

He also defended Comelec commissioners Arthur Lim, Al Parreño and Sheriff Abas.

Lim was recommended to Aquino by his law classmate, Senate President Franklin Drilon; Parreño was endorsed by former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II, while Abas was reportedly endorsed by MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

Roxas and Drilon are both stalwarts of the Liberal Party.

Lacierda nonetheless reminded the public to respect the Comelec ruling in the same way that they respected the ruling of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, which threw out the petition of Rizalito David to disqualify Poe based on her citizenship.

“These are part of the constitutional framework of our democracy,” he said.

“They are independent-minded commissioners. They made the decision on those points in the same way that SET, an independent tribunal, voted in favor of Sen. Grace Poe.”

He said respect for the rule of law cuts both ways. “Whether one is favored or not, we need to emphasize the rule of law and the respect for the rule of law,” he said.

The Liberal Party has denied having a hand in the decision of Comelec’s second division.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, spokesman for the LP, said the administration coalition “will not allow itself to be party to any activity” involving the disqualification of its standard bearer Roxas’ opponents.

“If the LP had wanted Sen. Poe disqualified, we could have done so earlier at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET). We did not. In fact, she won there by just one vote – and that was the vote of Sen. Bam Aquino, who is not an ordinary LP member but is in fact of the national executive board and first cousin of our chairman P-Noy,” Quimbo said.

He said the LP has learned from Aquino’s 2010 experience that a president needs a strong and substantial mandate from voters to be able to carry out difficult and sometimes unpopular reforms.

He said daang matuwid (straight path), which is the administration’s slogan, can only be successful if it has an unquestionable mandate.

He cited the case of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose 2004 election was questioned and that made her governance difficult.

“We will not allow ourselves to go through that,” Quimbo said.

Deputy Minority Leader Arnel Ty said Poe can always run for president in 2022 when her lack of residency will have been “cured.”

“Senator Poe is fairly young at 47. She can always run for president in 2022, when she will be 53 years old. Nobody can question her residency by then,” Ty said.

However, a Poe ally in the House of Representatives said yesterday it is not a remote possibility that the LP had a hand in the Comelec decision disqualifying his candidate.

“This is really sad because the LP and its cohorts are using every issue they can hit Sen. Poe with, including the foundling issue,” Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said.

“They are essentially discriminating against abandoned children and depriving them of their rights.”

The Comelec second division disqualified Poe and cancelled her certificate of candidacy after finding that she is not a natural-born Filipino and lacks the 10-year residency requirement under the Constitution for a presidential aspirant.

Sen. Francis Escudero and other lawmakers yesterday accused the Liberal Party of having a hand in the Comelec decision to disqualify Poe.

Escudero, a vice presidential candidate, noted the alleged connection of the composition of the Comelec second division to the LP through fraternity.

According to Anakbayan chairman Vencer Crisostomo, Comelec Commissioners Parreño and Lim were reportedly fraternity brothers of LP stalwart Drilon and administration ally Avelino Cruz.

Another fraternity brother is Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who voted in favor of the disqualification of Poe at the SET.

But the majority of the SET ruled that Poe is a natural-born Filipino and qualified to remain as senator despite being a foundling.

LP’s presidential candidate Roxas has been lagging in surveys for president.

“While we were not saddened with the Comelec decision because the majority were commissioners who were appointees of the administration and known to be close to the LP standard-bearer and his allies, not President Aquino, we still expressed hope that Poe will be given justice on this case,” Escudero said over dzRH radio.

Escudero also wondered why Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, another LP stalwart, seemed to have an advanced notice about the Comelec decision.

“A day before the Comelec issued the decision, it seems he knew about the decision against Sen. Grace Poe. I want to ask him, did he get an advance copy of the decision?” he said.

Escudero lamented that Poe is being eased out of the presidential race since her opponents have no chance of winning if they will not launch underhanded tactics.

‘Temporary setback’

Escudero remains confident that Poe will be allowed to run for president, having met all the constitutional requirements to seek the highest post in the land.

He said the Comelec second division’s decision “is just a temporary setback” as he expects Poe to get relief “either from the Comelec en banc or the Supreme Court (SC).”

– With Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez, Janvic Mateo, Jose Rodel Clapano, Robertzon Ramirez, Paolo Romero