(CNN Philippines) — With Malacañan apparently taking a hands-off stance on the negative issues being thrown against Senator Grace Poe, loyal allies of the late Fernando Poe Jr. on Wednesday (June 3) came to defend his adopted daughter from critics and potential rivals in next year’s elections.
Three of Poe’s colleagues in the Upper Chamber — Senators Chiz Escudero, JV Ejercito, and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III — answered the various accusations hounding the lady senator lately, particularly her residency and citizenship issues as well as the decades-old rumor linking Poe to her alleged biological father, the late president Ferdinand Marcos.
Escudero, FPJ’s campaign spokesman when he ran for president in 2004, described as nothing new the accusations that Sen. Poe lacks the required residency to run for either President or Vice President next year, adding these were also the same black propaganda hurled against her father then.
“The issues hurled at Senator Grace Poe are deja vu. It has already been seen in 2004, when the same issues were thrown at her father, the late Fernando Poe Jr. or FPJ when he ran for president,” Escudero said.
Escudero also scored the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay, particularly Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, for raising the residency issue against Poe considering that it was only last month when no less than Binay himself named Poe as his preferred running mate in next year’s elections.
Related: Election expert: Deeming Grace Poe ‘disqualified’ too premature
Tiangco, who is also the Interim President of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), clarified Thursday (June 4) that questions against Sen. Poe’s qualification to run for higher office did not come from Binay.
He said he did not seek Binay’s approval before he issued the previous statements on Poe, and that what he revealed about her residency was based on public documents.
Sotto, for his part, downplayed the residency issue saying the person being questioned has yet to decide in the first place whether she’s seeking higher office or not.
Related: Sen. Grace Poe on 2016 plans
The Senate Minority Floor Leader was one of those who urged FPJ to join the presidential race in 2004 and even served as the actor’s campaign manager back then.
Meanwhile, Ejercito, whose father, former president and incumbent Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada was FPJ’s best friend, lashed back at Sen. Poe’s critics on Thursday over what he termed as “below-the-belt” and “inhuman” attacks against the neophyte senator.
“Whoever is behind this below-the-belt personality attack against Sen. Poe, stating that she is not a real daughter of FPJ is inhuman,” he said.
Poe herself addressed the issue on Wednesday and denied the rumors tagging her as an illegitimate child of Marcos and actress Rosemarie Sonora.
“Hindi talaga totoo ‘yon (That’s is not true),” she said.
