Philippines Immigration Focus on Philippine Immigration Life: A recent survey conducted by the Philippine polling agency Social Weather Stations indicates that Grace Poe, the 47-year-old independent senator and adopted daughter of the late action star, is poised to win next year's presidential election.
Grace was elected as a senator in 2013 and officially announced her candidacy for the 2016 presidential election at the University of the Philippines on the 16th of this month. In her campaign speech, she stated: "The principle my father followed when he ran for office was very simple—as a leader, having a heart for the poor is more important than having intelligence. He often told me, 'Grace, poverty is not predestined; it depends on people's efforts.'"
Grace was abandoned as a child at Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo, Philippines, and was adopted by the late action star Fernando Poe Jr. Fernando was known as the "King of Philippine Movies." He ran for president in 2004, was defeated by Arroyo, and passed away from illness later that same year. Grace's political platform focuses on anti-corruption and maintains a tough stance on foreign policy. Philippine media believe that Grace's candidacy is intended to carry on her father's legacy.
Although she is currently leading in the polls, Grace faces several challenges, one of which is the legality of her candidacy. The Philippine Constitution stipulates that the president, vice president, senators, and members of the House of Representatives must be natural-born citizens, and presidential candidates must have resided in the Philippines for 10 years prior to the election year. Media reports revealed that after graduating from the University of the Philippines Manila, Grace attended Boston College in the United States and subsequently lived in the U.S. for many years, at one point holding U.S. citizenship. In July 2006, Grace took an oath to join Philippine nationality, and she only announced the renunciation of her U.S. citizenship in October 2010 when she was appointed Chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board of the Philippines.
Rizalito David, a defeated senatorial candidate, has questioned Grace's eligibility to serve as a senator, arguing that her biological parents may not have been Filipino, and therefore she does not meet the qualifications for the senate. Grace insists that she is a "true" Filipino and that since returning to the Philippines after her adoptive father's death in 2004, she meets the residency requirements for the election. However, to dispel doubts and verify her identity, the Senate Electoral Tribunal of the Philippines has requested that Grace submit to an investigation.