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A DAY BEFORE ARROYO ELECTION AS HOUSE SPEAKER

‘Nagparamdam si FPJ,’ Grace Poe says


Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday her late father Fernando Poe Jr. somehow sent her a ‘signal’ a day before former President and Pampanga Representative  Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was installed as the new House Speaker.

Poe was asked on how her mother, actress Susan Roces, reacted to Arroyo’s ascension to the House top post, but she refused to answer.

“Huwag na lang tayong pumunta d’yan, ibang bagay ‘yun napakapersonal,” she said, her voice breaking.

“Basta hindi ko nga maintindihan, nagparamdam ang tatay ko sa akin,” she added then left reporters to go back to the room where a majority caucus was being held.

But at the sidelines of her interview with GMA News TV’s News To Go, Poe said someone brought her a framed statement of artists who supported the presidential bid of her father on the eve of President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address.

“Nag-text na sinabi na ‘may nakita akong frame na article ng daddy mo’, sabi ko siguro si Direk ang nagpa-frame niyan. Ang sabi ‘oo nga nakita namin sa gamit niya, dadalhin ko bukas dahil may dinner naman’,” she recalled their conversation.

“Sa lahat ng araw, imagine-in mo ilang taon na ito, dinala niya ‘yung frame parang statement of support ng iba’t ibang artista na lumabas sa dyaryo, binigay niya the eve ng SONA, bago itong lumabas itong si GMA (Arroyo’s initials),” she added.

Poe said she initially did not know what that meant but she believed his father wanted the people to be vigilant.

“Sabi ko anong sign ito na parang… I know my dad would not have wanted it for himself… just be vigilant, hindi pa tapos, balik na naman tayo,” she said.

“Dati wala naman ako diyan sa session hall, andun kami sa labas nagra-rally e. So I was looking sa mga nag-rally with nostalgia ... mukhang babalik na naman tayo diyan,” Poe further said.

The late action king lost to Arroyo during the 2004 presidential elections. He filed a protest with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal but died on Dec. 14, 2004. Roces pursued the protest but the PET dismissed the same in March 2005. 

Dismayed

In the same interview, Poe expressed dismay with Arroyo’s election, wondering if there was no other choice for the post.

“Nakakalungkot kasi ‘yung pinalitan niya hindi rin naman tayo sang-ayon doon di ba pero wala na bang ibang mapagpipilian, ‘yun na lang nang ‘yun,” she said.

With the new post, Poe warned the people that they may wake up one day that Arroyo is already the Prime Minister, with the same or even greater power than President Rodrigo Duterte, if ever efforts to shift to a parliamentary form of government is railroaded.

“Sa ating kababayan, maghanda lang kayo kasi pagka ang mga namuno sa Kongreso ay i-railroad itong Cha-cha at gawing parliamentary form, maaaring magising na lang kayo either patas ang kapangyarihan sa Pangulong binoto n’yo o siya ang magtetake-over  bilang Prime Minister,” she said.

“Ang Prime Minister naman talaga ang nagpapatakbo ng gobyerno sapagkat lahat ng kapangyarihan ay nasa Kongreso sa parliamentary form,” she added.

If that will happen, she said Arroyo’s new post is a clandestine move to bring the former state leader back to power.

“Parang pailalim na naman na hindi ko na sana kailangang ipaaalala pa dahil sa puso natin alam natin ‘yung mga nangyari noon. Hindi lang ito doon sa Hello Garci, tandaan na lang natin ang ilang anomalyang nangyari, anong klaseng corruption ang meron tayo noon,” she said.

She remembered that during the campaign period in 2016, she was asked if she is in favor of allowing Arroyo to seek medical treatment. The senator said she agreed because at the time, the former president really looked sick.

“Bilang isang tao na may simpatiya, bilang isang Kristiyano sinabi ko ‘oo naman’, mukha namang may sakit e. Tapos bigla na lang ngayon makikita mo...niloko na naman tayong lahat. Para tuloy nawawala ang simpatiya mo. Dapat maging patas, kung nangangailangan bakit hindi pero ngayon ganung klase e,” she said.

Using the words of her father, Poe said there should be a stop to abuse in power.

“Sabi nga naka-isa ka na, nakadalawa ka ngayon, pangatlo nga baka dapat nang kalusin,” she said. 

Allegations of corruption

In a separate interview with GMA News TV’s News To Go, Poe said she will not stop reminding the public and even President Rodrigo Duterte of the corruption allegations against Arroyo.

“Hindi ako titigil na ipaalala sa ating mga kababayan at sa ating Pangulo, na binoto ng ating kababayan dahil sa plataporma laban sa korupsyon, na importante sa lahat na ang mga nagkasala ay hindi makalusot,” she said.

She said the people may no longer remember the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential polls, but they should not forget the corruption accusations.

“Nabanggit mo na nagkaroon ng dayaan noong 2004, hindi na yun e, huwag na nating balikan ‘yun, balikan na lang natin yung anomalyang nangyari n’ung administrayon niya, mga payola, kurakot, ‘yong mga bagay na ipinaglaban natin para maalis sa gobyerno," she told anchor Kara David.

“Balikan nga natin kung ano ang halaga ng piso nung mga panahomng iyon, P56 sa bawat dolyar, tandaan nga natin ang presyo ng gasolina n’ung mga panaho na ‘yun. Iyong binibigyan ng payola pati ‘yung mga pari, ganun ba ang gusto nating maging ehempo ulit ngayon,” she added. — RSJ, GMA News

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