BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental—“Is it his country?”
Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe on Friday threw this question back at a reporter here who asked her about her visit in the province known as a bailiwick of administration candidate former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
“Hindi, kasi ano naman, ’yung Pilipinas isang bansa lang ’yan,” Poe said after some reporters laughed at her reaction.
Asked if the reception she got from the residents here showed that the province was not Roxas’ country, Poe answered no.
“No, it will just prove that our kababayans are open to hearing the platforms of all of the candidates,” she said.
“And ‘nung pagpunta ko naman dito naramdaman ko ang kanilang mainit na pagtanggap—‘kasimanwa,’ yayakap—sapagkat sa tingin ko marami sa kanila nakita nila ‘yung pinagdaanan natin noong mga nakaraang buwan. Naghihintay din sila at ’nung nadeklara na rin ng Korte Suprema ay parang nakahinga na rin sila na ‘hindi na importante sa amin kung sino pa ’yung kadugo mong magulang, alam namin dito ka, taga-rito ka.’”
Poe was referring to the Supreme Court decision allowing her to run in May amid questions on her residency and citizenship.
She said her adoptive mother, veteran actress Susan Roces, grew up here, while she was believed to have been born in Iloilo.
READ: Susan Roces returns to hometown for Poe campaign in Bacolod
Found as an infant at Jaro Church, Poe was later adopted by Roces and her husband, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.
“Pero higit pa doon, kahit naman saang parte ng Pilipinas, kaming mga kandidato ay lumalapit talaga sa ating mga kababayan para ilahad ang aming plataporma, at magtanong paano rin kami makakatulong kung sakaling mayroon pang kulang sa aming mga inilahad,” she said.
Poe also said she would still continue to search for her biological parents.
“Pero ako naman sinasabi ko pa rin na hindi pa rin tapos ang aking paghahanap sa kung sinoman ang aking mga kadugong magulang. Gayunpaman, hindi ko minamaliit ang oras, pagmamahal at pagmamalasakit na ibinigay sa akin ng mga nagpalaki sa aking mga magulang na itinuturing kong tunay na magulang,” she said. RC
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