Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has a piece of “brotherly” advice to Senator Grace Poe amid citizenship and residency issues and other personal attacks being thrown at her now: Get used to it.
“Alam niyo, si sis…” Marcos said in jest when asked during a weekly forum in the Senate on Thursday about the disqualification case filed at the Senate Electoral Tribunal against Poe for her being a “foundling” or “stateless.”
“She can take care of herself; she does not need my help in anyway. If she asks for it, she has it not because of any suspected familial connection but she’s my friend, she’s my colleague; kung humingi siya ng tulong sa akin, tutulungan ko siya, asahan niya yun (if she asks for my help, I’ll help her. She can depend on that).”
“Malapit ako sa pamilya niya; eh kung si Manay Susan lumapit sa akin, sabihin, ‘Tulungan mo naman si Grace,’ paano ko namang hihindian yun, eh bata pa ako magkabigan na sila ng magulang ko,” Marcos said, referring to Poe’s adoptive mother, veteran actress Susan Roces.
(I’m close to her family; if Manay Susan comes to me and asks me to help Grace, how can I say no? She and my parents have been friends since I was a child)
Poe has already denied that Marcos’ father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, was her biological father. The two have since then joked about being brother and sister every time they were asked by the media about each other.
READ: Ferdinand Marcos is not my biological father, says Grace Poe
Asked in jest if there was something that he could do to “legitimize” Poe’s claim of her being a natural born Filipino, Senator Marcos gamely said: “Kina-career na nga namin, bale ganun na din ang ginawa namin.”
How about adopting Poe? Senator Marcos said: “Who will adopt whom?”
The younger Marcos also defended Poe about reports that she was a drunkard, drug addict, and abusive employer.
“As brotherly advice, ay naku, masanay ka na. Tatlong taon ka palang sa national politics; ganyan talaga, nailagay ka na ngayon sa presidentiable eh mas lalong magiging matindi ang pagbabato sayo ng kung ano-ano.”
“But again, sa pagkakakilala ko sa kanya, the three years that we’ve worked together, that I’ve spoken to her, that I’ve known her, she’s much tougher than she looks. I think kaya niya lahat ito, and I think she will come out at the other end with her dignity intact,” he said.
Despite this, Senator Marcos was not about to give his support yet for Poe should the latter decide to run for president in 2016.
“That will again depend on the party. If my party decides to support her then I will support her. I’m also a party member and not an individual politician operating in a vacuum,” said Sen. Marcos, who belongs to the Nacionalista Party. He himself is also being floated as a possible presidential or vice presidential bet next year.
And when the reporters ran out of questions to ask him, the senator again said in jest: “Ano pang mga family problems ang tanong niyo?”