Susan Roces on Poe: It’s up to her if she will follow her father’s footsteps

Senator Grace Poe with mother Susan Roces (Facebook photo)

MANILA – Actress Susan Roces, wife of late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., said that she would not influence her daughter Grace Poe’s political plans.

“It’s up to her to decide whether she will follow her father’s footsteps,” Roces said on ANC’s news program, hesitating to get involved with Poe’s decision making on whether to seek higher office in next year’s national elections or to run for reelection in her current post.

Roces admits, however, that she was overwhelmed with her daughter topping the recent presidential preferences surveys, escalating past Vice President Jejomar Binay who used to dominate the polls.

“Bilang ina, nakakataba ng puso na ganu’n ang reaksiyon nila. Ngunit sa isang banda, mahirap na trabaho ‘yan… Hindi mo basta-basta pinaplano ‘yan,” she said.

(As a mother, the people’s reaction [on Poe] is inspiring. But in one aspect, it’s a difficult job… You don’t just plan it.)

Roces was reportedly against her late husband’s presidential candidacy in 2004. Poe, for her part, has not yet expressed interest in joining the coming election’s presidential race as she is still talking with experts for advice.

“[As a mother], you can only perhaps give suggestions if you are asked,” Roces said.

Should Poe run for president or vice president in 2016, Roces only desired the best for her daughter.

“Whatever the future holds for her, my main concern as a mother is her happiness and her safety, and her health,” Roces said in a press conference, adding that she continuously pray for her daughter’s well being.

Roces has recently been taping for a television series adaptation of her husband’s 1977 film “And Probinyano.”

“[Politics] is another world. This [show business] is my world and I love it,” she said.