Lauren Young on being Fil-Am: 'In my heart I'm 100% American and 100% Filipino'

Lauren Young took exception to Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta's interpellation of ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Gabby Lopez III regarding his citizenship.

In the joint panel hearing at the House of Representatives on the broadcast company's franchise issue on Monday, Marcoleta pressed Lopez on his allegiance and even asked him to recite the first line of "Panatang Makabayan."

Lopez, who was born to Filipino parents in the United States, is a dual American and Filipino citizen. Lauren, the sister of Miss World 2013 Megan Young, also enjoys dual citizenship.

"Parang sinasabi ni Marcoleta na pag dual citizen ka you will never ever be a FULL Filipino by heart," the actress said on Twitter. "As a dual citizen I find these statements so offensive."

"In my heart I'm 100% American and 100% Filipino. Regardless of my birthplace, passport and parents. Kalerks," she added.

Marcoleta has claimed that Lopez's American citizenship when he took the helm of ABS-CBN in 1986 is a violation of the constitutional provision that mass media companies should be 100 percent Filipino-owned.

READ: ABS-CBN’s Gabby Lopez tells solons: Consider my commitment to Filipinos

In an earlier hearing, Lopez said he is willing to renounce his American citizenship "if it came down to conflict of interest."

"But the way I see it, I am first and foremost a Filipino. I will live and I will die in the Philippines. That has certainly been the family’s position," he said.

"Frankly, the issue of being a dual citizen is not even something that I think about. I know in my heart that I am a Filipino, and all my actions in the last 35 years I've been associated with ABS-CBN, has been to the service of the Filipino in my mind," he added. —MGP, GMA News