Senator Grace Poe (left) and Congresswoman Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
“That’s her opinion,” was Senator Grace Poe’s response to vice presidential bet and Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo’s reported statement that the citizenship issue hounding the senator was a moral issue than a legal one.
READ: Leni Robredo: Case vs Grace Poe moral issue
“Sa ating bansa marami may parehong sitwasyon. Marami sa atin ang gustong tumulong, gustong maghandog ng kanyang sarili, maraming nanirahan sa ibang bansa, bumabalik dito para tumulong,” Poe said when asked during a press conference on Tuesday in Calamba, Laguna to comment on Robredo’s statement.
(In our country, there are many who are similarly situated. Many of us want to help, want to offer themselves, many lived in other countries but have returned to help.)
“Para sa akin yan lamang ang isyu at hindi ko na kailangan pang sabihin dahil ito’y opinion nya e. So opinion nya yun basta para sa akin po, ginagawa ko ang aking trabaho. Mahal ko ang ating bansa. Kami ay narito, bumalik dito dahil sa pamilya at para tumulong,” she said.
(For me, that’s the only issue and I don’t need to say it because that’s her opinion. So that’s her opinion. As far as I’m concerned, I’m doing my job. I love our country. We are here, we came back because of our family and also to help.)
READ: Poe explains why she once gave up her Filipino citizenship
Poe reiterated that she renounced her Filipino citizenship to join her family in the United States. She said she did it out love for her family. She became a naturalized US citizen last October 18, 2001. However, she renounced it after she was appointed chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board last October 6, 2010.
She said she was just one of the millions of Filipinos who were forced to work and live abroad because of the lack of opportunities in the Philippines but they still returned for the love of the country.
“Yun naman po ang dapat nating isipin sa ating mga kababayan. Hindi po sila umalis dahil hindi nila mahal ang ating bansa kundi dahil din sa pagkakataon at oportunidad. Ang importante ay marangal ang iyong pamumuhay. Nandito ka nga pero ikaw naman po ay hindi gumawa ng tama. Ano po ba naman yung dapat nating isipin dun?”
(That is what our countrymen must think about. Some Filipinos left not because they do not love the Philippines but for opportunities [abroad]. The important thing is your lifestyle is decent. Some are here yet are not doing good things. What else must we think about that?)
Poe’s running mate, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, came to her defense.
Escudero pointed out that Republic Act 9925 recognized that a Filipino who renounced his citizenship re-acquired his original status when returned to the country.
“Ngayon may tanong ako, tinuturing nating mga bayani ang mga OFW (overseas Filipino worker), pag sila’y nandun at kahit na umuwi sila dito, nagbabago ba yun pag biglang gusto nilang manilbihan sa gobyerno? Biglang traydor na ang tawag natin sa OFW na gustong tumakbo at manilbihan sa gobyerno? Bayani lang ba sila pag sila’y nandun o hindi tumatakbo sa gobyenro?” he asked.
(Now, I have a question. We treat our OFWs as heroes, when they are abroad or even after they came back. Does that change when they suddenly want to serve the government? Do we suddenly call the OFWs traitors when they want to run for public post and serve the government? Are they only heroes when they are abroad and they do not run for a government post?)
“Bayani sila ano man ang gawin nila pagbalik nila sa bansa, tumakbo man o hindi, manilbihan man sa pamahalaan o hindi, at dagdag pa dun mula sa malayo nilang kinakalagyan, tiyak ko mas umaapaw at lumalalim ang pagmamahal nila sa bayan dahil na rin sa pangungulila nila sa ating bayan dahil sila ay nasa dayuhan at ibang lugar,” he said.
(They are heroes no matter what they do when they return to the country— whether or not they run, whether or not they serve the government and in addition to that, from where they are, I am sure that their love for our country becomes deeper because they badly miss it when they are in a foreign land.) RAM