MANILA, Philippines – Grace Poe is facing not one, not two, but 4 disqualification cases before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), but she does not lose sleep over any of them.

“Ang tulog ko po ay hindi apektado ng aking konsensya. Sabi nga nila (My sleep is not affected by my conscience. As they say), ‘Clean conscience sleeps in thunder,'” she told reporters on Thursday, December 3 – two days after a Comelec division ordered the cancellation of her certificate of candidacy for president.

Instead, she said, she loses sleep because of work, since – at least for now – she’s not only senator, but also a presidential candidate.

“Pero kung kulang man ako sa tulog ay hindi dahil doon kundi sa trabaho. Maraming kailangang gawin, maraming kailangang kausapin. Hindi naman masama po. ‘Yung pagkain, isa pa ‘yun sa nagiging problema. Sabi ko nga, kung gusto ‘nyong mangayayat, tumakbo kayo,” she added.

(If I lack sleep, it’s because of work and not because of the cases. There are a lot of things to do, and many people that I need to talk to. It’s not bad. My appetite is another problem. As I always say, if you want to lose weight, run in the elections.)

But Poe admitted that the disqualification cases are affecting her children.

“Alam ‘nyo nung lumabas ‘yong nakalagay na ‘Grace Poe disqualified,’ ang anak ko sabi: ‘Mom what’s happening? All my friends are asking me [on] Twitter, what’s going on?’ Kaya nga isa ito sa dahilan din na responsibilidad ko rin na mabigyan ng assurance din ang ating mga kababayan kung anong gagawin namin…kunwari maging negative pa rin ang decision ng [Comelec] en banc.“

(You know, when the news ‘Grace Poe disqualified’ came out, my child said: ‘Mom what’s happening? All my friends are asking me [on] Twitter, what’s going on?’ This is one of the reasons why it is my responsibility to give assurances to our fellow Filipinos what we plan to do if ever the Comelec en banc’s decision is still negative.)

Two days after the “disappointing” Comelec decision, Poe received good news: the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) denied with finality the petition of Rizalito David seeking to disqualify her as senator of the Philippines for alllegedly not being a natural-born Filipino.

David’s lawyer Manuelito Luna said they will file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court either Monday, December 7, or Tuesday, December 8, so that the high court can review the decision of the electoral tribunal.

The SET’s decision may have an effect on similar citizenship cases that Poe is facing before the Comelec.

Poe, on the other hand, will appeal the unanimous decision of the Comelec Second Division before the Comelec en banc on Monday. – Rappler.com