Poe’s husband now processing renunciation of US citizenship

The husband of presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe is already in the process of renouncing his American citizenship, her camp said Thursday.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian said Neil Llamanzares has started taking “concrete and proactive” steps to fulfil the requirements necessary to give up his United States passport.

“Sinimulan na ni Mr. Llamanzares 'yung mahabang proseso ng pagre-renounce. 'Di simpleng proseso ito at maraming hinihinging dokumento. Medyo voluminous ang dokumentong hinihingi. Gayunpaman, he’s already taking concrete and proactive steps to renounce his American citizenship,” he said at the sidelines of the Makabayan coalition’s formal endorsement of Poe and her running mate, Senator Francis Escudero, in Quezon City.

‘A good man’

Neil Llamanzares sits next to his mother-in-law Susan Roces at an event at the UP Bahay ng Alumni on Sept. 16, 2015 wherein his wife Sen. Grace Poe announced her intention to run for president in the 2016 polls. Manny Vargas

In a separate interview, Poe told reporters she has no doubt about her husband’s desire to renounce his American citizenship.

“'Yung prosesong kailangan ay kailangang may makalap tayong mga dokumento para isumite. Wala naman akong duda at 'wag kayong magduda,” she said.

The senator, whose citizenship is also being questioned before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the Commission on Elections, stressed that her husband is a good man.

“Assurance lang na mabait ang aking asawa, hindi nakikialam, at isang Pilipino,” she said.

Poe confirmed in an earlier radio interview that Llamanzares has decided to renounce his American citizenship after a discussion with her.

According to the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, a person who wishes to renounce his American citizenship must appear in person before a US consular or diplomatic officer, do the act of renunciation in a foreign country (normally at a US Embassy or Consulate), and sign an oath of renunciation.

While Llamanzares holds an American passport, Gatchalian said Poe’s husband is a dual citizen of the Philippines and the US. He noted that Llamanzares is a natural-born Filipino since both his parents are Filipinos who studied and worked in the US.

“Natural-born Filipino siya (Llamanzares). Pinanganak siya sa mga magulang na Pilipino. Nagkataon lang na nakikipagsapalaran ang kanyang mga magulang—naghanap-buhay at nag-aral—kaya doon siya pinanganak. But he has always considered the Philippines as his country and as his domicile,” he said.

Poe and her husband have three children, two of whom are still minors who were born in the Philippines. Their first child Brian, now 23 years old, was born in the US and is also a dual citizen.

Gatchalian said the senator is leaving it up to her children to decide if they would give up their US passports, although he noted that Poe has already talked to Brian about the idea.

“She will leave it up to her children to decide on their own fate… Hinahayaan niya na sa tamang edad mag-desisyon ang kanyang mga anak,” the mayor said. —KG, GMA News