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Saturday, February 07, 2004
FPJ, stars set sorties in Cebu
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Fernando Poe Jr. is returning to Cebu later this month for a four-day campaign in the towns, after election officials affirmed on Friday an earlier ruling that he is qualified to run for president.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) voted unanimously to deny a motion alleging that Poe is a US citizen and thus barred by the Constitution from running for office.
True to his word that he will work hard to get the votes of Cebuanos, Poe will be in Cebu again starting Feb. 20.
Poe will be with a horde of movie and television stars when he presents his platform during his campaign in the municipalities.
Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda and the senatorial slate will also be with Poe.
"He was so happy with the success of his meeting with his allies and supporters in Cebu City (last Thursday) that he decided to come back, this time for the presentation of his platform and his campaign in the province," Norberto Homecillo, KNP chairman for Central Visayas, told Sun.Star.
Yet despite his popularity, Poe will still lose to President Arroyo in Cebu, Sen. John "Sonny" Osmeņa said Friday.
Alliances
Osmeņa said he commissioned an "independent group" he declined to name to conduct a survey in Cebu City of the presidentiables and it was learned that if elections were held today, Arroyo would get 49 percent of the votes.
Poe would get 23 percent, while former education secretary Raul Roco rated 19 percent.
In a phone interview, the reelectionist senator said the survey was conducted in the second week of January. He declined to reveal any more details, including the result of the survey among those running for senator.
No local aspect was included in the survey, Osmeņa related.
The campaign period for presidential, vice presidential and senatorial candidates starts on Feb. 10, while the congressional and local campaign period begins on March 25.
During his visit in Cebu last Thursday, Poe confirmed his alliance with the opposition party Kugi Uswag Sugbu (Kusug) in Cebu City and met with local businessmen who are supporting his candidacy.
He also met with the ambassadors of France, Germany and South Korea and paid Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal a visit on the eve of his 73rd birthday.
KNP Cebu City mayoralty bet Alvin Garcia said that Poe assured them of financial support for the campaign of local candidates.
"The financial aid will go to the campaign both for the national and local candidates. There is no specific amount yet but he already assured us that he will give and that is expected because it is very expensive to hold a campaign rally," Garcia said.
For president
Also on Friday, one of the lawyers who filed a disqualification case against Poe said she was confident of winning before the Supreme Court (SC).
Lawyer Maria Jeanette Tecson said the Comelec has no jurisdiction to decide whether Poe is qualified because under the Constitution, the SC has "original and exclusive jurisdiction" over the disqualification case.
Tecson also favors changing the Constitution after the May 10 elections, partly so that the qualifications required of presidential aspirants will be revised.
Under the present Constitution, a candidate for president must be a natural-born Filipino, able to read and write, at least 40 years old and a resident for at least 10 years.
"How can a President implement the laws if he doesn't know about them?" Tecson said.
In a separate press conference, US Charge d' Affaires Joseph Mussomeli was asked what he thought about the possibility of the Philippines having another actor-president in Poe.
"It would be hypocritical for us to say that actors should not be allowed to run (seek for government positions). What people should look at are the policies of these candidates, their commitment to serve the people and who are the people around them," he said.
Mussomeli also said the behavior of the peso, which has been devaluating in the past few days, is a normal reaction to the uncertainty on the country's leadership.
"Investors always have that uneasy feeling because of the uncertainty of who is going to be the next president. But after May 10, regardless of who the next president will be, the market will go back to normal," he said.With Karen M. Flores, Elias O. Baquero & Jessica B. Natad
(February 7, 2004 issue)
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Comelec junks appeal to disqualify Poe