ILOILO City—A normally soft-spoken Senator Grace Poe admitted on Monday that she is just controlling herself amid the barrage of black propaganda being hurled against the front-running presidential aspirant in the May 9 elections.
Interviewed by the media here, Poe made this reaction to the Daily Tribune report that she has allegedly accepted Php150 million campaign contributions from Macao-based junket operator, Sun City Group, owned by gambling mogul Alvin Chau.
”First of all, that is absolutely not true. Ang kanilang inilalabas na document, talagang you know, ako’y nagtitimpi na ha (Their documents, really, you know, I’m on the verge of exploding,” Poe told the media after a public market visit in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo under the scorching heat of the sun.
Poe said she is aware that accepting that kind of contribution is against the Philippine laws, denying a signature found in the documents.
”Why I should do that? First, it is clear that it’s against the law. It’s easy to obtain other documents to prove it’s not true and I challenge them,” Poe said.
Last month, the same Manila-based newspaper also came out with a report based from a source that Poe allegedly used two Social Security Numbers (SSN) when she was still in the United States.
Poe denied the reports, saying the other SSN was her school identification number when she studied at the Boston College. She has requested her US school to issue a certification.
After getting favorable decision from the Supreme Court (SC) regarding her disqualification case, Poe’s critics, including Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, have questioned the high court’s 9-6 ruling that allowed Poe to run for president.
”It’s really sad. I hope our countrymen would instead focus on the platforms of government that would help the poor, that would give enough income and employment for them,” Poe said.
Carpio said to allow Poe to run for president is a ‘mockery’ of the elections.
Poe said Carpio was one of those who also opposed the presidential bid of her father, the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., in 2004.
”It’s up to him if that’s his opinion. If they want to push this through a process, it’s up to them. For me, this (SC) decision is already strong. Our basis is the collective wisdom of the SC,” she told the media in an ambush interview.
Poe told the crowd that if she will be elected president, she will take her oath in Iloilo where, 47 years ago, she was found as an infant in a church in Jaro.
Aside from the public market, Poe also visited a day care center in Sta. Barbara, the Pavia municipal hall and the University of the Philippines-Iloilo campus for a dialogue with students.
Although not part of her schedule, Poe also went to the Jaro church to thank God for the favorable SC decision.
Poe said she also decided to visit the Visayas in preparation for the second presidential debate set on March 20 in Cebu City. The first debate was held in Cagayan de Oro City last Feb. 21.
”Part of my visit is to be able to know more about what you need so that I can present it during the presidential debate here in the Visayas,” Poe said.