SEN. Grace Poe last night said that Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II could have done more when he served as secretary of the Department of Transportation and Interior and Local Government, adding "the people deserve better.”
Poe, the frontrunner in next year’s presidential race, issued the statement during a presidential forum organized by US business colleges Harvard University, Kellog, and Wharton at the Manila Polo Club.
She initially refused to criticize Roxas, saying the forum was not the proper forum. Pressed further, however, she said: More could have been done. The people deserve better.”
During the forum, she also identified some of the "non-partisan” people from the academe and economic sector who have been helping her craft her economic policies.
Poe identified them as Ateneo School of government dean and former Education undersecretary Tony La Viña, former National Economic Development Authority head Cielito Habito, director of Philippine Institute for Development Studies Romy Bernardo and national scientist Raulo Fabella.
She said if elected president, she "would choose my cabinet wisely and according to merit alone. Friendship will not be a criterion. Upon appointing the best people for the job, I will hold them accountable.”
"To be fair, I am not denying that experience can be valuable. But I think there are other qualities that a leader should posses,” she said, adding that while the "Daang Matuwid” program of President Aquino has accomplished so much, "there is still so much to be done.”
‘PATTERN OF MISREPRESENTATION’
De La Salle Professor Antonio Contreras yesterday said Poe has shown a "pattern of misrepresentation” in her official documents, highlighted by what he said was her declaration of her period of residency in her certificate of candidacy (COC) for the May 13, 2013 elections that counts in the residency requirement for next year’s presidential polls.
Speaking during the oral arguments on three of the four disqualification cases filed against Poe before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Contreras said Poe’s claim that she has been a resident of the Philippines for "six years and six months” when she ran for senator means she will be lacking in residency in her bid for the presidency next year.
The COC filed by Poe for the 2013 elections is one of the issues being used by Contreras, as well as other petitioners, in questioning whether Poe has met the 10-year residency requirement for the post of president.
Contreras noted that Poe and her American husband, Neil Llamanzares, claimed to be "Filipinos” when they purchased a condominium unit in San Juan in February 9, 2006 as shown in the Condominium Certificate of Title.
He also noted that the couple also said they were "Filipinos” when they acquired a property in Quezon City in June 1, 2006 as indicated in the Transfer Certificate of Title.
At that time, Poe was still an American citizen since she re-acquired her Philippine citizenship only on July 18, 2006.
Contreras said that since Poe claimed that she was a resident of the country for six years and six months before the May 2013 polls, she should therefore be a resident of the country for the 2016 elections for more than nine years only.
Contreras filed a petition for the cancellation of Poe’s COC last month. He said the point of reckoning should be July 18, 2006, or when Poe re-acquired her Philippine citizenship, thereby making her a resident of the Philippines for nine years, nine months and 22 days before the May 2016 polls.
In her COC for the 2016 elections, Poe said she will be a resident of the country for 10 years and 11 months by May 9, 2016.
"I always say that if you place wrong information in a document, that is misinformation. That’s misleading...regardless if may malicious intent or not, this is deliberate,” said Contreras.
"This is somebody that we are going to elect as president. We should hold the one running for president at the highest bar. If in that simple TCT and CCT, you can tell something that is not true, then it goes into your character,” said Contreras.
Poe’s lawyer, George Garcia, said it was a simple case of "honest mistakes” on the part of the senator.
"That was an honest mistake. Talagang nagkamali. Sino ba naman hindi? Hindi naman siya lawyer. Siyempre ang nilagay ko kasi ang paniniwala ko Filipino ako,” Garcia said, adding there was never any malicious intent on the part of Poe in claiming she was a Filipino when she was still an American citizen.
"There was no malicious intent, deliberate at that, to commit a lie. Ang importante ay walang diretsahang pagsisinungaling. Ito po ay isang pagkakamali at lahat ng tao ay nagkakamali. Ang importante ay kahit magkamali ka, huwag ka lang magsinungaling,” said Garcia.
The Comelec First Division grilled Garcia, Contreras and the petitioners, former University of the East-Law dean Amado Valdez and former senator Francisco Tatad regarding their positions on Poe’s citizenship and residency qualifications. —
