Cebu supporters fight for Poe’s presidential bid

Supporters of Sen. Grace Poe in Cebu said the fight isn’t over for the disqualified presidential bet.

Over 100 youth leaders and members of different sectors gathered at the Enmore Residence Hall in Cebu City yesterday to relay the message to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that “the fight goes on” for Poe.

“We just want to send a message across to the commissioners,” said Leon Flores III, Visayas convenor of Kabataan Poe (KPOE) and former National Youth Commission chairman.

The volunteers at the he gathering wore white, representing Poe’s independent bid.

In the province, her supporters are organized as “Grace Poe 2016 volunteers in Cebu.”

At the gathering, a tarpaulin with Poe’s image with the words “Padayon Poe!” and “Tuloy na tuloy Poe ang laban” was placed as a centerpiece.

Similar smaller tarps were posted around the venue.

The Comelec second division recently disqualified Poe from the presidential race due to her failure to fulfill a 10-year residency requirement..

Among other qualifications, candidates for president should be a natural-born Filipino and should have resided in the country for at least 10 years before the day of elections.

The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) recently ruled that Poe is a natural-born Filipino.

The Comelec, however, found that Poe lacked two months of residency. She lived in the United States before moving back to the Philippines when her father, action star Fernando Poe Jr., died in 2004.

Poe’s camp this week submitted a motion for reconsideration taken up by the Comelec en banc yesterday, said Flores.

Flores said that the second division decision didn’t take up the evidence given to the Comelec by the senator’s lawyers.

Flores said that Poe signed a document at the US Embassy declaring that she has considered herself a resident of the Philippines since May 2005.

“The whole year was spent moving into the Philippines, selling her properties aboard, and looking for new ones here,” said Flores.

The Comelec has until December 10 to finalize the list of names that will be included in the ballots for the 2016 polls.

“The most immediate battle now is for her name to be on the ballot. If her name is removed from the ballot, that is definitely a disenfranchisement already of our right to choose our leaders,” Flores said.

Various groups supporting Poe have held rallies in front of the Comelec Central Office in Intramuros, Manila.

Smaller gatherings have been held throughout Visayas and Mindanao.

Flores said their biggest gathering will be on Friday this week in front of the Comelec Central Office again.