SILAY CITY – Senator Grace Poe began her visit here on Friday by paying respects to the person who gave her, then as an infant, to her adoptive mother, veteran actress Susan Roces.
Poe and Roces arrived here early in the morning.
From the airport, the mother and daughter went directly to Silay cemetery to visit the tomb of Teresa “Tessie” Ledesma Valencia, who passed away in 2009.
Roces described Valencia as a “very close friend.”
Roces said it was Valencia, who was the first person who learned about Poe when the latter was found as an infant in Jaro chuch in Iloilo in 1968.
READ: Susan Roces: Don’t bully my daughter Grace!
Asked why they chose to visit Valencia’s tomb first before their other scheduled activities here, Roces said: “Pagbibigay galang, kasi kung walang Tessie Valencia, hindi magiging parte ng pamilya namin si Grace (To pay respects, because if not for Tessie Valencia, Grace would not have been part of our family).”
She said her visit to Valencia’s tomb brought back a lot of good memories.
“Syempre maraming alala, magagandang ala-ala, noong sanggol palang si Grace kasama pa namin siya noon (Of course, there are a lot of memories, good memories; when Grace was still a baby, she was still with us),” said the actress.
Roces said Valencia was still alive when they first campaigned here in 2004 when her husband, the late action king Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) ran for president.
FPJ lost to then President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Roces said they again visited her friend’s tomb when Poe first ran and topped the 2013 senatorial race.
From the cemetery, Roces proceeded with her market tour starting with Silay Market.
READ: Susan Roces returns to hometown for Poe campaign in Bacolod
She also stopped by Silay Church and said a short prayer. CDG