Gabby Lopez voted in 2016 US polls as dual citizen: Lagman

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Gabby Lopez voted in 2016 US polls as dual citizen: Lagman

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA - Congressmen on Monday questioned former ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III's allegiance and citizenship, taking issue with his voting record both in the Philippines and in the United States and possession of 2 passports.

Lopez, who appeared again in a joint congressional hearing on ABS-CBN's application for a new operating franchise, admitted casting his vote in the US elections in 2016.

He said he has also been voting in Philippine elections since returning to the country in 1986.

But having a foreign passport and participating in elections in a foreign country were "simply attributes of dual citizenship," said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

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Citing immigration records, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga said Lopez used his US passport more than he used his Philippine passport since 2002, the year his application for recognition as a Filipino citizen was granted.

Lagman said the recognition granted by the Philippine justice department was merely a "confirmation" and not a "perfection" of the fact that Lopez was a natural-born Filipino citizen.

Some congressmen insisted that Lopez's dual citizenship violated the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership in mass media, when he served as head of ABS-CBN.

"Yun po ang aming pag-uusapan dito sa Congress sa pagpapasya -kung kayo ay bibigyan ng bagong prangkisa; kung kayo, sa inyong isip, salita at sa gawa, at base na sa inyong sagot, ay naging isang tunay na Pilipino," Barzaga said.

(In deciding whether to give you a new franchise, we will discuss whether you became a genuine Filipino in thought, in word, and in deed.)

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