Erap revives citizenship issue vs. Lim

Former President and Manila mayoralty candidate Joseph “Erap” Estrada is reviving the citizenship issue that was once raised against his rival, incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim. “We might file a disqualification case,” Estrada told reporters Thursday after getting a copy of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution junking with finality the disqualification case filed against him.               “We cannot find any birth certificate and he cannot produce one,” he said, adding they tried securing a copy of Lim’s birth certificate a month ago to no avail. Estrada believes Lim’s father and mother are Chinese, which could spell trouble on Lim's candidacy since the Constitution bars non-Filipino citizens from seeking an elective post in the country. Lim's citizenship was first questioned in 1998 when he ran for president under the Liberal Party.  A newspaper report that time said a supposed copy of Lim’s birth certificate that was retrieved from the national archives had indicated that his parents listed their nationality as “Chinese mestizo.” The report said Lim, who lost the presidency in 1998 to Estrada, showed a reconstituted birth certificate filed 22 years after his birth indicating that both his parents were Filipino. He won as senator in the 2001 elections. Three weeks Asked when will he file the case, Estrada said he will ask his lawyers first, noting there are still three weeks before the May 13 elections. Asked if he is just getting back at Lim, whom he accused of having a hand in the disqualification case against him, Estrada said, “Of course not.” He, however, added: “The people deserves to know his (Lim) citizenship.” He said they may also file the case even after the elections “because I want the people to decide who is the real winner.” “The people have the right know. He became a policeman, a mayor, secretary of DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government), a senator. He will answer for that falsification of his birth certificate,” Estrada said. Estrada also expressed hope Lim’s “dirty tricks” against him would end with the junking of the disqualification case. — Amita Legaspi/KBK, GMA News