Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — It was Sen. Grace Poe’s turn to take up the cudgels for her adoptive mother — veteran actress Susan Roces — who railed against critics raising issues of citizenship and qualification against the lawmaker.
Poe told reporters on Wednesday (August 19) that it was but natural for a mother to do so.
“Hindi naman para bumatikos o para papigilan yan. Hindi mo mapipigilan yan. Pero bilang nanay, hindi mo rin siya siyempre mapipigilan na depensahan ang anak mo. ito ay isang natural lamang na bagay,” Poe said.
[Translation: “It (Roces’ reaction) was not meant to censure critics since one cannot stop them after all. But as a mother, you also cannot prevent her from defending her daughter.”]
Poe added that as much as possible, her mom was trying to avoid to comment on campaign issues since she would tend to be “very emotional.”
“Iba kapag nanay mo ang nagsalita,” she noted.
[Translation: “When a mother speaks, that’s really something else.”]
This developed after Roces gave critics a mouthful and warned them not to bully or push Poe around by questioning her Filipino citizenship.
Roces lashed out at detractors and said she never considered Poe a foundling, but instead treated her like her own daughter.
Last August 6, former senatorial aspirant Rizalito “Lito” David filed a quo warranto petition at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) to challenge Poe’s eligibility to run for Senate in the last midterm elections due to citizenship and residency requirements.
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Over a week after that, on August 17, David filed another complaint — raising similar issues against Poe — at the Commission on Elections (Comelec)
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CNN Philippines’ Anna Estanislao contributed to this report.
