Arroyo welcomes Comelec ruling on Poe

Malacañang welcomed yesterday the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to junk the disqualifcation petition against Fernando Poe Jr.

President Arroyo’s spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the "electorate is entitled to more choices and this is good for our democratic system."

Mrs. Arroyo has said before she has always believed that Poe is a Filipino citizen.

Arroyo aides have rejected opposition charges that her camp had orchestrated the disqualification petition to derail Poe’s candidacy as well as a smear campaign that has included an anonymous full-page advertisement in newspapers listing supposed flaws in the official documents of the actor and his parents.

"I’m happy for the opposition," Arroyo campaign spokesman Michael Defensor said.

"Now we can both immerse ourselves in the campaign" instead of quarreling over Poe’s citizenship, he said.

"Since the very beginning, this issue has not brought anything good to us" in the Arroyo camp, Defensor told reporters. He said the case had put Mrs. Arroyo in a no-win situation because if the Comelec had disqualified Poe, "it would have provoked a riot." The electorate "would also have accused us of being behind this," Defensor added.

Some pro-administration congressmen defended Malacañang from allegations that it was trying to sabotage Poe’s presidential bid.

"The dismissal of the disqualification case against Poe should be taken in defense of either side. This is not administration versus the opposition but rather concerned citizens are out to ensure there is no violation of the Constitution," Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay said in a statement.

"This is not the administration knocking out someone perceived to be a strong contender to the presidency, but rather a constitutional question on the qualification of that candidate," Nueva Ecija Rep. Aurelio Umali said.

Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles criticized the Comelec ruling, describing it a "Pontius Pilate decision to wash its hands."

Poe supporters have threatened to stage protests if he was disqualified from the presidential race. His political allies have accused Malacañang of fabricating documents to support the petition.

Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella said Poe allies Senators Edgardo Angara and Vicente Sotto III should have inhibited themselves from last Wednesday’s Senate inquiry on the allegations because they are Poe’s "No. 1 cheerleaders."

"There is a thousandth percentage more of credibility left in the Supreme Court than the circus going on in the Senate hearing," he said.

Last Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo fired Ricardo Manapat, the head of the Records Management and Archives Office, who supplied documents that supported the disqualification petition against Poe.

Manapat backed the allegations with microfilm files purportedly showing that Poe’s father was married to one Paulita Gomez and that the younger Poe was born out of wedlock to another woman, American Bessie Kelley.

Under the law, children born out of wedlock should take up the citizenship of the mother. The Constitution stipulates that only natural-born Filipinos may run for president.

Lawyer Victorino Fornier, who filed the disqualification petition against Poe, claims Poe’s father was a Spanish citizen.

But at a Senate hearing last Wednesday, three archives employees testified under oath they were told to fake the marriage contract by Manapat.

Manapat went on "indefinite leave" and was replaced on Thursday by career official Marietta Chou. It wasn’t clear if he would face any charges.

Mrs. Arroyo, a 56-year-old US-educated economist, has been struggling to boost her popularity as most polls put Poe well ahead of her.

She has been campaigning on her strong ties with the United States and its Southeast Asian allies and is trying to convince Filipinos that the economy is doing better.

But critics say it has remained stagnant because of persistent fears of political instability.