Poe explains why she once gave up her Filipino citizenship

Senator Grace Poe answered on Wednesday the lingering questions why she once gave up her Filipino citizenship, which is now the issue being raised against her.

“Alam niyo po, noong kami nag-umpisang mag asawa, talaga namang sa pag-ibig yun,” Poe told reporters in an interview in Manila after attending  the 3rd National Convention of Makabayan bloc in Manila.

“Kasama ko ang aking pamilya, ang aking asawa, nanirahan kami doon (sa U.S.)… Bilang isang nanay, talagang suporta sa aking pamilya, asawa na malayo…”  she said.

Poe said she did not abandon her Filipino citizenship simply because she did not love her own country, noting that she did eventually come home from the US when her father, actor Fernando Poe Jr., died in 2004.

“Hindi naman yun dahil nagkulang ako ng pagmamahal sa bansa, at noong nagkaroon na rin ng pagkakataon na makabalik dito dahil na rin sa pangungulila at pangangailangan ng aking nanay, nandito naman (ako),”  she said.

The senator was referring to her adoptive mother, veteran actress Susan Roces.

“Pero mas malaking hamon at pribilehiyo na manilbihan sa bansa, at hindi ko tinalikuran sapagkat ito’y pagkakataon na makatulong sa marami ngayon,” said Poe.

“Simple lang naman po para sa akin, hindi lamang sa papel o sa bansag ang pagiging Pilipino; ito ay pamumuhay ng marangal, yung ating mga values at isa pa yung tapat na paninilbihan. Sa tingin ko naman, hindi naman ako pagkakatiwalaan ng grupo katulad ng Makabayan kung inaakala nila na ako’y hindi tapat at mabuting Pilipino,” she further said.

Poe renounced her US citizenship when she was appointed chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in 2010. She was elected senator in 2013. JE

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