Duterte to Grace Poe on SC win: I wish her the best  

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday has nothing but well wishes for his opponent Senator Grace Poe after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, allowing her to run for president in the May 2016 election.

“Good luck to her and I wish her the best,” Duterte said in a message sent through his spokesperson, Peter Laviña.

In an interview with Super Radyo dzBB, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) president Senator Koko Pimentel said that he was surprised with the decision but happy for Poe as a friend. 

“Ganito na lang ang attitude natin ‘let the best person win’ sa Mayo,” Pimentel said.

Duterte, the presidential candidate of PDP-Laban, previously said that the option for him to run for president became a possibility after the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) voted in November 2015 also in favor of Poe. 

The SET, voting 5-4, dismissed the disqualification case filed by Rizalito David against Poe. David had sought to unseat Poe from the Senate on the ground that she is allegedly not a natural-born Filipino citizen. 

“Ang problema kasi diyan, si Grace, pumunta ng America, doon nag-asawa tapos binigyan ng magandang trabaho rito, iniwan ang American citizenship niya. Dual (citizen) na siya. Saan ang loyalty niya ngayon, sa Pilipinas ba o sa America?” Duterte said at the time.

But when he reaffirmed his certificate of candidacy before the Commission on Elections in December 2015, Duterte said his decision to run for president is no longer just about Poe’s qualifications. — Trisha Macas/RSJ, GMA News