Poe tells critics: Spare my family

Senator Grace Poe with her family. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

PANGASINAN, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe defended her only son on Friday from criticisms over an alleged expensive shoes that he posted on his Instagram account.

Poe said she asked her son Brian Poe Llamanzares about it when the issue first came out in social media about a month ago.

“Tinanong ko sa kanya. Pinakita naman n’ya sa akin kung magkano ang pagkakabili nya,” she said when a reporter asked about it during a press conference here.

(I asked him. He showed me how much the shoes were.)

“Kung naaalala n’yo, ang aking anak e nagtrabaho rin. Kaya lang kinailangan n’yang-mag leave dahil nga kailangan ma-maintain ng network na ‘yun ‘yung objectivity,” said the senator.

(If you remember, my son was already working. But he had to take a leave because his network had to maintain its objectivity.)

READ: Grace Poe’s son also rises

Her son was a neophyte reporter for a television network when he took a leave to help his mother, who is running for president in the May 2016 elections.

Poe said she taught her children to save money but recognized that like any other person, her son would also like to buy some things for himself.

“Basta galing sa pinaghirapan mo, pinag-ipunan mo hindi mo naman ninakaw at siguraduhin mo naman na hindi naman labis-labis at ‘yung sa kanya naman matagal din nang pinag-ipunan din ‘yun. ‘Yun lang naman ‘yung sa kanya,” she said.

(As long as you worked hard for it and you bought it using your earnings, and you did not steal it or it’s not excessive, then it’s fine. Besides, he was saving for that purchase.)

“Ako hindi sang-ayon dun pero masaya s’ya e ‘di payagan natin (I did not agree with the purchase, but he’s happy so I just let him be),” the senator added.

READ: Brian Llamanzares nakiusap sa mga nanlalait kay Grace Poe

But as a mother, Poe said she felt bad that her family was being dragged into politics as she expressed hope that they would be spared from it.

“Syempre bilang nanay, pesonally sinasabi ko naman na hindi naman yata tama ‘yun pero sasabihin ng iba kasama na nga ‘yun sa pultika pero sana huwag na…kasi unang-una, pribadong mamamayan, pangalawa hindi naman pondo ng iba. S’ya na mismo ang nag ipon para doon at siguro balikan naman ‘yung kanyang maliit na kinikita e kaya din naman ‘yun,” she further said.

(As a mother, personally, I don’t think that it’s right to drag them to politics. Because first and foremost, they are private citizens. Secondly, he did not use public funds to buy the shoes. He saved for that purchase, and I believe he has enough money to purchase those shoes.) IDL