THE camp of Senator Grace Poe on Thursday defended her new political ad that says she will emerge victorious over the disqualification cases filed against her just as her late father, Fernando Poe Jr., did when he ran for president in 2004.
Poe’s detractors claim that her latest political ad may put the Supreme Court, which will decide whether or not she can run for president in this year’s elections, in a bad light.
Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Poe’s spokesman, said the networks adhere to strict ethical standards and will vet each advertisement before it is aired.
“We’re sure that the networks will not allow any ad to air if it is against ethical or legal standards,” Gatchalian said in a text message.
He made his statement even as the Supreme Court on Thursday required the Office of the Solicitor General to appear during the oral arguments next week on the petitions of Senator Grace Poe assailing the decision of the Commission on Elections canceling her Certificate of Candidacy for the May 9 presidential election.
The Court gave its order despite the OSG’s decision not to represent the Comelec in the petitions filed by Poe questioning its decision to disqualify her due to her alleged failure to meet the 10-year residency requirement and for not being a natural-born Filipino citizen.
The Court ordered the Solicitor General to appear before it on Jan. 19.
“The Solicitor General, as the Tribune of the People, is directed to participate in the oral arguments despite his manifestation that he will not represent the public respondent in these consolidated cases,” the high court said.
In Poe’s latest 30-second television ad, four neighbors are talking about her disqualification case. Then, when a male character says her case is similar to her father’s, a woman says: “But in the end, the Supreme Court allowed [FPJ] to run.’’
Lawyer Raymond Fortun earlier said the advertisement could put the Supreme Court in a bad light “if the outcome is different from what they want to portray.
“To come up with an ad that says “it is the same as what they did to her father FPJ is a deception to the people,” Fortun said.
“Her lawyers should know better than to allow the release of an ad that may put the High Court in a bad light if the outcome is different from what they want to portray.”
Romulo Macalintal, another lawyer, said Poe’s case was different from her father’s because his parents were known and he had been declared natural-born unlike the senator, who is a foundling.
“This is now the issue: whether her parents were indeed Filipino citizens,” Macalintal said.
Poe has pending disqualification cases at the Supreme Court over her citizenship and residency.
The Court only recently sustained the restraining order it issued to the Comelec to stop it from disqualifying Poe in seeking the presidency.
The Comelec’s First Division canceled Poe’s CoC based on the petitions questioning her citizenship and residency filed by former senator Francisco Tatad, Amado Valdez and Antonio Contreras.