DNA from Poe’s  alleged biological parents too degraded for tests

The DNA samples taken from the exhumed bodies of Senator Grace Poe's alleged biological parents were too degraded to indicate anything as regards their supposed ties to the lawmaker, the senator said on Monday.

“Samples from exhumed remains are not viable,” Poe said in a statement.

“It’s already been decomposed too much due to weather conditions," she added.

Poe, however, remained optimistic that the other samples taken from her alleged relatives would yield positive results.

“I am hoping from the live samples that they can get a match,” Poe said.

In late December,  the remains of Victoria Rodriguez, believed to be Poe’s biological mother; and those of Francisco Montañez and his son Paquito were exhumed to determine the senator’s lineage.

A bone fragment from Rodriguez’s thigh was extracted for DNA testing. Both Francisco and Paquito were thought to be the real father of Poe and DNA samples were also extracted from both their remains.

Six DNA samples from the siblings of Rodriguez and three from the siblings of Paquito were also taken and brought to Manila for testing.

On December 14, an alleged aunt of Poe, Lorena Dechavez, and two alleged sisters, Malyn and Magdalena, went to Manila to provide DNA samples for possible matching.

Poe is now facing disqualification cases before the Supreme Court because of her questioned status as a natural-born Filipino citizen and alleged lack of residency.

She was adopted by the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and his wife actress Susan Roces after she was found at the Jaro Cathedral in 1968.

Poe’s camp earlier said that it wouldl no longer present in court the results of the DNA tests conducted.

The DNA tests earlier conducted on the relatives of the man who supposedly found Poe inside the cathedral yielded no match. —NB, GMA News