Petitioner to Grace Poe: Why correct ‘honest mistake’ in COC only now?

One of the petitioners against the candidacy of Sen. Grace Poe for president questioned why the period of residency that she stated in her certificate of candidacy in 2012 was not corrected until this year.

Lawyer Estrella Elamparo, the first of the four petitioners to question Poe's candidacy for president, said the correction was done "conveniently."

"Sabi niya nagkamali raw siya doon sa COC noong 2013 [elections]. Pero kung 'yun ay honest mistake, bakit hindi niya in-amend at hindi niya binago? Tatlong taon na ang nakakaraan, wala siyang ginawa para bawiin 'yung COC na 'yon," Elamparo told reporters on Tuesday afternoon after the hearing for the petition she filed against Poe.

"Ngayong tatakbo siya bilang pangulo, ngayon lang niya conveniently sinasabi na, 'Nagkamali po tayo dati, pero kahit hindi natin itinama, pabayaan na lang, kalimutan na lang natin 'yun.' 'Di naman po siguro karapat-dapat," she added.

Elamparo filed a petition to deny due course, or to cancel COC, against Poe last October 16, a day after the senator filed her certificate with running-mate, Sen. Francis Escudero.

In her petition, the former legal counsel for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said Poe failed to satisfy the citizenship and residency requirements for a presidential candidate under the country's laws. Candidates for president are required to have had at least 10 years of residency, according to the Constitution.

The senator personally appeared at the hearing on Tuesday afternoon but did not speak during the proceedings, as she was represented by her legal counsel, George Garcia.

'We did not lie'

Garcia called the declaration of "6 years and 6 months" that Poe placed in her COC in 2012 was "an honest mistake."

He said at the time, Poe counted from her second return to the Philippines in 2006, instead of counting from May 2005, when she and husband Neil Llamanzares came to the Philippines to prepare for their relocation after living in the United States.

Asked during the hearing if it was an honest mistake, Garcia said, "Yes, an honest mistake."

"We did not lie in order for us to be qualified [to run for Senate]," he said, adding that the figure Poe gave was even less than her months of residency at the time.

He added that they have made the correction in her COC for president, where she wrote that she has been a resident of the Philippines for 10 years and 11 months, counting from May 2005.

This is more than the nine years and six months based on Elamparo's computation.

After the hearing, Poe defended her move to correct her mistake in her 2012 COC.

"'Pag may nag-point out na mali 'yan, all you have to do is change it, and if it's maliciously intended to make you qualified for a position when you shouldn't be, doon lang nagkakaroon ng problema," she told reporters.

"'Yung akin kulang nga 'yung inilagay ko, hindi sobra," she added. —KBK, GMA News