— Five of the six female members of the Senate pose for a souvenir photo in their colorful attire before the opening of the 3rd and last Regular Session of the 16th Congress at the Senate Building in Pasay City on Monday (July 27, 2015). They are (from left) Senators Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe and Maria Lourdes Binay. Not in photo is Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — A former senatorial candidate who lost in the 2013 elections on Wednesday attempted to challenge Sen. Grace Poe’s seat in the Senate over the issue of her citizenship.
However, Lito David was not able to file his petition before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) after he failed to pay the P50,000 filing fee.
“This is the cost of justice?! Napakamahal naman!” an obviously exasperated David exclaimed when SET staff Mae Maglicmot told him the amount of the filing fee.
David told reporters that he was aware that he has to pay a filing fee but said he did not expect it to be P50,000.
“Alam ko na may filing fee, but I did not expect it to be that high. Hindi naman ito pormal na protesta na kinukuwestyon ko kung siya ba ay nanalo [o] natalo [noong eleksyon],” he said.
When asked on when he intends to file again his motion, David told reporters: “I do not know. Baka gusto niyo mag-contribute ng tig P1,000? Tutal mga nasa 50 naman yata tayo dito.”
In his “quo warranto” petition, David said Poe, a neophyte senator, should be unseated for claiming that she is a Filipino citizen when in fact “she is using an American passport since 2009″ — an issue first raised by the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
“Ang contention ko sa petition na ito, in general, ay si Senator [Poe] Llamanzares has no right to sit in the Senate because she is stateless. She is neither an American citizen nor a Filipino citizen and that is violative of the Constitution,” David said.
David also pointed out that aside from using an American passport, Poe is not a natural-born Filipino and has taken her oath of allegiance to the United States.
“Tumakbo siya sa Senado na kulang pa ang residency niya [sa Pilipinas]. She lacked one year of residency…She was a foundling. Naging Filipino lang siya by virtue of adoption,” he said.
According to David, a quo warranto petition is usually filed to challenge a public official’s continued stay in office.
David said he was filing the petition on his own volition. “This is a noble act… I don’t need somebody else to push me to do this. Ito ay ginawa ko on my own,” he said.
David, who ran under the Ang Kapatiran Party in the 2013 senatorial elections, also said he may file two formal complaints against Poe in the coming days — one in connection with her alleged misrepresentation and falsification of public documents in relation to her citizenship when she ran for senator in 2013.
He said he may file these complaints with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Meanwhile, another complaint that David intends to file against Poe was in connection with her previous chairmanship of the Movie and Television Review and Classifications Board (MTRCB).
“She assumed chairmanship of the MTRCB knowing that she not completely a Filipino citizen,” David said. “Let us remember na hindi pwede ang dual citizenship in hold public office.”
David said he may file this complaint in a proper trial court.
Poe had earlier dismissed the allegations that she is not a Filipino citizen, saying she has long been residing in the country even before the 2013 elections.
Daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., Poe topped the 2013 senatorial election and is also now topping pre-election surveys on possible presidential candidates in the 2016 elections.
Poe’s term as a senator will end in 2019 if she decides not to run for higher office next year. (MNS)