Senator Grace Poe. INQUIRER.net PHOTO
CALACA, Batangas—Presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe dispelled any speculations that she had deliberately omitted or concealed from public that her husband Neil Llamanzares once served in the United States Air Force (USAF).
Poe noted that she had already mentioned about her husband’s stint in USAF even in previous interviews.
“Pangalawa, hindi po ‘yung asawa ko naman ang tumatakbo bagamat naiintidihan ko na kailangang malaman ng bawat isa ang background ng pamilya,” she said in an interview here on Friday.
(Second, my husband is not running for any government post though I understand that it is necessary that the public should know the background of each candidate’s family members.)
READ: Poe defends US home, hubby’s USAF service
Had she known that her husband’s stint in the US would become an issue, Poe said she would not have mentioned about it in the past.
“Siyempre, kung ako ang tatanungin mo matino at mabait naman talaga ‘yung asawa ko, nagtrabaho ng disente, tinaguyod ang pamilya,” she said.
(Of course, if you would ask me, my husband is a good and kind person who was working decently to provide for our family.)
“Kung yun lang naman ang magiging issue ay dapat hindi ko na rin naibanggit noon pa. Hindi naman iyan isang saradong dokumento, iyan naman ay alam ng ating mga kababayan.”
(Had I known that this would be an issue, I would not have mentioned about it in the past. That is not a confidential document, our fellow countrymen know about it.)
She reiterated that there were many public servants who also studied in US military institutions.
“So kung sinasabi mong ‘indoctrination,’ aba, mabigat din ‘yon kasi mismong pangulo din natin ay nakapag-training sa mga institusyon na iyon. E iniisip natin mga allies rin naman natin ‘yan,” said Poe.
(If you are referring to indoctrination, that’s a grave accusation because even our president had trainings in these military institutions. After all, we consider US as our ally.)
“Siyempre, ano pa ba ang isusulong ko, kundi ang kapakanan ng ating bayan. Kung kailangan ang ating mga allies, tutulong sila, maraming salamat pero meron tayong sarili nating foreign policy. At bilang pangulo, hindi ko papabayaan na ito ay madiktahan ninuman, kundi ng interes ng ating mga kababayan,” she further said.
(Of course, I would push for the welfare of our country. If our allies will help us, we would be thankful to them but we would have our foreign policy. And if I will be elected president, I won’t allow that it would be dictated by external forces and I will ensure to prioritize the interest of our fellow countrymen.)
Poe also dismissed the reported filing of a deportation case against her husband and their son Brian who is also a dual citizen.
“Natural-born po ang aking asawa at ang aking anak. Mas alam pa ba nila ang batas na nakasulat?” she asked.
(Both my husband and son are natural-born [citizens]. Do the critics know more about the law than what is written?)
READ: Poe tells critics: Spare my family
“Maayos po ang sitwasyon nila. Karapatan nilang lumabas, galangin natin.”
(They are in a good situation. Let us respect their right to go out of our country.) RAM