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Friday, January 23, 2004
Manapat goes on indefinite leave
* Malacanang lets Manapat go on leave
* But senators call for resignation of Manapat
* Manapat sues 3 workers who accused him of ‘forgery’
* Drilon believes Poe is not a natural-born Filipino
BELEAGUERED National Archives director Ricardo Manapat has taken an indefinite leave of absence effective Thursday to allow the unrestricted conduct of an investigation on allegations that he fabricated documents used to accompany a disqualification suit against presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. or FPJ.
Malacañang allowed Manapat to go on leave and has appointed Marietta Chu as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the archives agency.
But four senators said Manapat should instead resign “out of delicadeza (propriety).”
Three employees of the National Archives earlier accused Manapat of having forged and fabricated the birth document of Poe’s father, Allan Fernando Poe Sr., and the marriage certificate of the elder Poe and a certain Paulita Gomez.
Remmel Talabis, Vicelyn Tarin and Emmen Llamera made the accusation during an inquiry Wednesday conducted by the Senate committee on Constitutional amendments, revision of laws and codes on the accusations against Manapat.
Manapat denied the accusation.
Manapat Thursday accused “powerful forces” behind the candidacy of movie actor Poe as “those behind the demolition job” against him.
He also filed perjury charges before a Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) against Talabis, Tarin and Llamera.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said “without passing judgment on his guilt, I would strongly suggest that he should submit his resignation and that the President should accept the same immediately,” Drilon said in an interview.
Four senators also supported the call of Drilon, adding that Manapat is not an effective administrator since majority of the employees complained about the way he managed the office.
Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III has urged the government to issue hold departure order against Manapat so that he could not leave the country and face the charges that may be filed against him.
Sotto added that aside from falsification of public documents and forgery, Manapat should be charged with obstruction of justice and theft.
This, after bundles of documents, mostly notarial records, were reportedly missing in the National Archives. Sotto said the documents were brought inside the office of Manapat. Manapat returned the “missing” records.
“The government must take measures to protect the historic records of the country. The Department of Justice (DOJ) should issue a hold order,” Sotto said.
In separate interview, Sen. Edgardo Angara said Manapat is not an effective administrator since 80 percent of the employees have signed a petition to oust him.
Angara is chairman of the Senate committee on Constitutional amendments.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the integrity of the official documents cannot be protected by an official like Manapat.
Sen. Manuel Villar, on the other hand, commended Talabis, Tarin and Llamera for their honesty and bravery in exposing the wrongdoing of Manapat.
Citizenship
Meanwhile, Drilon said is FPJ is not a natural-born Filipino on the time of his birth and that the Supreme Court (SC) should look into the issue.
Drilon said documents presented by the camp of FPJ clearly showed that
Poe was born a year before the marriage of the elder Poe and Bessie Kelly.
“I cannot understand all the fuss about the alleged marriage bet FPJ’s father and Paulita Gomez. Admittedly, FPJ was born on August 20, 1939, a year before the marriage between Allan Poe and Bessy Kelly was held. Therefore, at the time of his birth, he was an illegitimate child,” Drilon said.
Therefore, Drilon said, that there is no need to prove that the marriage between Allan and Gomez is bigamous.
Drilon also said although the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can resolve the issue initially, it is still the SC that has the final say on the matter.
He said the High Tribunal should decide whether the legitimization of Poe’s citizenship is retroactive after his parents got married. Sunnex Luzon/JPM
(January 23, 2004 issue)
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