Is Poe Aquino’s ‘Manchurian candidate’?

ON DISTANT SHORE

By Val G. Abelgas

Since the start of the year, Sen. Grace Poe has been getting unexpected support in the disqualification cases against her that are now pending before the Supreme Court.

In the first week of January, the independent presidential candidate got a totally unexpected support from the government’s top lawyer, Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who caught everybody by surprise when he asked the Supreme Court to uphold the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) decision that Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen and was therefore qualified to run for senator in the 2013 elections.

Hilbay was basically saying Poe was also qualified to run for president when he said the SET reasonably and correctly ruled that proof of private respondent’s status as a foundling did not necessarily equate to the lack of proof of Filipino parentage, adding that neither did it translate to an inability to prove Filipino parentage.

In his comment submitted to the high tribunal, Hilbay also said the minority opinion of the three SC justices in the electoral tribunal that Poe needs to prove that either of her biological parents is Filipino was an undue burden on the senator.

“To impose scientific levels of certainty, as by way of a DNA sample of a Filipino parent, as the only acceptable means to prove one’s filiation, would be to impose a burden significantly higher than that which is normally required for these proceedings,” he said.

Two weeks later, a similarly surprising support came from SC Justice MarvicLeonen who asked why a foundling like Poe would be compelled to look for her real parents or required to prove her parentage, such as through DNA testing, when ordinary Filipinos only need to show their birth certificates to prove their parentage and citizenship.

Leonen also agreed with the position of former Chief Justice ArtemioPanganiban, who held that the expressed provision of the Constitution on qualifications of presidential aspirants should be disregarded and the issue thrown to the electorate, saying the voice of the people is the voice of God.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said a few days later during the SC hearing that Philippine adoption laws recognize foundlings or children with no known parents as Filipino citizens, basically backing Poe’s contention that she is a natural-born citizen qualified to run for president of the Philippines.

Zeroing in on who should carry the burden of proof that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino and hence not qualified to seek public office, Sereno said compelling a foundling to prove his or her unknown parentage was an “impossible condition,” and that upholding such a requirement would betray the presumption in Philippine adoption laws that a foundling is a Filipino.

The supportive statements of three of the top legal minds in the country, without a doubt, raised the hopes of Poe and her supporters that the high tribunal would eventually rule that the foundling Poe is a natural-born citizen and, therefore, qualified to run as president of the country.

The views of Sereno, Leonen and Hilbay caught many by surprise because all three were appointees of President Aquino, who has publicly endorsed his party’s presidential nominee, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

It may be that the three are just playing out their role as impartial jurists regardless of who appointed them to their posts, but it doesn’t help that their opinions came just after both Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station (SWS) surveys showed opposition candidate Vice President JejomarBinay back on toop of the presidential race. Both surveys came amid speculations that the Comelec and the SC may disqualify Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the other popular presidential aspirant.

It is not difficult to speculate that the surveys sent shivers on Aquino’s spine. He and other LP leaders probably thought that disqualifying erstwhile frontrunners Poe and Duterte would help raise Roxas’ ratings. But to their surprise, it was Binay who stood to benefit from the disqualification.

The mere thought that Binay could become the next president should be enough to give Aquino sleepless nights, knowing that the UNA candidate blames him for what he calls persecution of his family, not to mention that three opposition senators the administration had jailed for their alleged role in the Janet Napoles pork barrel scam – Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla – are Binay’s supporters.

Thoughts of a Binay presidency conjures the possibility of detention for Aquino since the opposition has vowed to pursue criminal cases against him once his term is over and his presidential immunity gone for his alleged role in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which had both been declared illegal by the Supreme Court. In addition, Enrile has vowed to file charges against him for alleged criminal negligence in the SAF 44 massacre in Mamasapano.

There have also been speculations of late that Aquino may be thinking of Poe as an alternative candidate (Plan B) if Roxas’ rating did not improve as election nears.

For example, some media men and political observers noted that Poe was “going easy” on Aquino during the reopening of the Senate investigation into the Mamasapano massacre. When asked if she thought the President did not do enough to save the SAF troopers from the bloody Mamasapano clash, Poe seemed to offer an excuse for Aquino when she said that since the President was preoccupied most of the time, it should be the responsibility of the Philippine National Police chief to feed him accurate information on what was happening on the ground.

Observers also noted that Poe tried to cut short Enrile’s presentation and questioning of witnesses but for the intervention of Sen. Bongbong Marcos, who insisted that Poe allow Enrile to continue. This and Poe’s allegedly soft committee report led Enrile to say that “Grace Poe is Aquino’s Manchurian candidate,” in reference to the movie of the same title, where sinister forces plotted to have their man win the US presidency.

Although very critical of some of Aquino’s officials, particularly Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, Poe has been careful not to criticize Aquino, even praising him for his supposed reform agenda.

It must also be noted that despite a pledge by Aquino to join campaign sorties by Roxas and LP vice presidential candidate Rep. LeniRobredo, he has yet to be seen in a single campaign event with Roxas since the start of the year.

Are we seeing a repeat of the betrayal of Roxas in the 2010 vice presidential elections when a group of Aquino leaders, allegedly in conspiracy with the President’s sisters, secretly worked for the victory of Binay instead of Roxas, his running mate?

Maybe it is time Roxas distances himself from Aquino and declare his own platform and agenda, and stop saying his victory assures the continuation of the present administration’s “daangmatuwid.” Voters do not want a candidate who will only become a puppet of the present President if he wins.(valabelgas@aol.com)