Iloilo City (CNN Philippines) — Sen. Grace Poe visited Iloilo City on Friday (June 5) for a mini reunion with some relatives and friends.It was partly a work-related trip and partly a personal journey to seek the truth about her biological parents.
The senator met with some of her friends like Jean Jalandoni, Carmela Ledesma, and Sofia Mijares, Poe’s household helper before heading her way to Jaro Cathedral, the place where she was first found and later on baptized.
She also spoke to the monsignor who, according to her, confirmed the usual story about her origin although the latter conceded it was second-hand information.
The monsignor said Poe was a foundling, at first cared for by a woman named Sayong Militar, and then she was passed on to an unmarried heiress named Tessie Ledesma, before being adopted by Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.
Poe said she may be nearing the truth about her parents, because word had been floating around that her real father could be Edgardo Militar, who was the one who signed the “foundling certificate,” attesting that she was found as an infant and that her true parents were unknown.
Edgardo was the brother-in-law of Sayong Militar, who has since migrated to Canada.
According to the senator, Susan Roces, who she said had a gut feeling that the information was true, spoke to the family before they left for abroad, and they cried hard.
“Until now, there’s belief they’re protecting a woman,” said Poe of the family.
On Monday (June 5), Poe joined Sen. Francis Escudero in Bacolod City to discuss the Sugar Industry Development Act, of which she’s a co-author.
Asked if her recent out-of-town trips are in preparation for the 2016 election, Poe said these were also intended to know better the concerns of people in the provinces.
She told reporters she only wrote “six years and six months” in the certificate of candidacy she filed in 2012 because it was only in April 2006 that her house in the United States was sold.
Poe said she has ample proof that she has been residing in the country for more than 10 years. This includes the fact that her children have been going to school here since February 2005.
