Susan Roces samples the Ilonggo dish La Paz batchoy while facing reporters in Iloilo. MAILA AGER/INQUIRER.net
LA PAZ, Iloilo—If Senator Grace Poe is not a Filipino, then how did she “land” in the Philippines?
Such was how Poe’s adoptive mother, veteran actress Susan Roces, answered on Tuesday persistent questions about the citizenship of the senator, one of the issues being raised against her to disqualify her from the upcoming presidential elections in May.
“Hindi makakaila na oo nakakabahala yung mga ibinabato nila…Pero hindi ko mawari kung bakit sinasabi nilang hindi Pilipino ang anak ko. Papano kaya sya nag landing dito?” she said when asked by Manila-based reporters here about the pending disqualification cases against her daughter.
(The issues they are throwing are undeniably disturbing. I don’t know why they (critics) are saying that my daughter is not a Filipino. How did she land here then?)
However, Roces acknowledged that what her daughter was going through was just part of politics.
READ: Grace Poe, Susan Roces in Iloilo for campaign
She pointed out that the same thing happened to her late husband, action king Fernando Poe Jr., when the latter ran but lost to then President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential race.
“Bahala na ang Panginoon kung anong gusto niyang mangyari katulad din ng pangyayari ng dumating sa buhay namin si Grace,” the actress said.
(May the Lord’s will prevail just like what happened when Grace came into our lives.)
“Hindi naming hiniling, dumating sya sa buhay namin. Ngayon itong nangyayari kung ano loloobin ng Diyos yun ang masusunod,” she said.
READ: Susan Roces visits Iloilo market to campaign for daughter Grace
(We didn’t wish for it but she came into our lives. Now I hope with all these things that are happening, may Lord’s prevail.)
However, as a mother, Roces said she was hurt by criticisms being hurled against the senator.
“Habang binabatikos si Grace, syempre nasasaktan ako. Alam ko ang kapwa ina, katulad ko ay mararamdaman din yun. Alam nila kung ano ang pinagdadaanan ko pero naniniwala ako malalamapasan namin ito,” she said.
(While Grace is being criticized, of course I am hurting. I know fellow mothers like me will feel the same. They know what I am going through but I believe we can overcome all of these.)
Asked how their family was trying to cope with such challenge, Roces said: “Panalangin. Lagi lang nagdadasal kasi ang Diyos lang ang nakakaalam.”
(Prayer. We are always praying because God is omniscient.) RAM
