Tatad will ask BI to probe ‘status’ of Poe’s husband

Former senator Francisco Tatad will ask the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday to investigate claims that the husband of presidential bet Sen. Grace Poe is an American national who is working in the Philippines without a valid permit, a lawyer said Saturday.

Tatad's counsel, Manuelito Luna, said "unnamed sources" at the BI tipped off the former lawmaker about the residency status of Neil Llamanzares, who was a former serviceman of the United States Air Force.

"He (Llamanzares) has to clear his name, considering that he's claiming to be a dual [citizen] or a Filipino when in fact he is an American. If the sources here could be validated by the BI, then it's up to the Philippine government to undertake the necessary proceedings. If there is a prima facie case for deportation, so be it," Luna said at a weekly media forum in Quezon City.

The lawyer said they will seek the probe because Llamanzares' status is a "matter of national interest" as he is a spouse of someone who could be the country's next president.

Tatad, represented by Luna, is one of the four petitioners who sought Poe's disqualification from the presidential race.

Acting on the petitions, the Commission on Elections disqualified the senator from the presidential race, but the Supreme Court had ruled against it with finality.

In a statement, Poe's camp slammed Luna for dragging Llamanzares into politics.

"It is so sad that his political obsession has now reached a point where non-candidates are being harassed. Since he did not get what he wanted when he attacked Sen. Poe, he is now on a rampage and unfairly harassing the family of Sen. Poe," said Poe's campaign spokesman Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian.

"This political oppression has to stop immediately. We are calling on Mr. Luna to spare private individuals and to focus the electoral discourse on important issues facing our country like poverty and unemployment," he added.

Gatchalian also insisted that Llamanzares is a natural-born Filipino.

"Mr. Llamanzares is a natural born Filipino citizen, born to Filipino parents. The allegations of Mr. Luna are baseless lies concocted by a troubled mind," Gatchalian said.

A former employee of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp., Llamanzares is a dual citizen of the US and the Philippines.

Poe, however, had said her husband is already in the process of giving up his American citizenship just like what she did in 2010 when she took up the post of chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Sen. Francis Escudero, the running mate of Poe, also insisted that Llamanzares is a natural-born Filipino "having born of Filipino parents, and can stay as such as a dual citizen under Republic Act 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003."

"Anyone who attempts to petition the deportation of Mr. Llamanzares is ignorant of the law and is bound to fail because such petition has no basis at all. It will not prosper," Escudero added. —ALG, GMA News