Bongbong and ‘sis’ Grace Poe take urban legend in stride 

Though they have different surnames, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has taken to calling Senator Grace Poe his “sis” nowadays.

 

Riding on the coattails of the rumors that they’re secretly siblings, Marcos said Poe now also fondly calls him “kuya” in the Senate.

 

At a news forum Monday, the senator said he and Poe have decided to respond to gossip about their supposed familial ties through humor.

 

“Senator Grace and I have decided that instead na mainis kami, career-in na namin. Gagawin na naming urban legend. Ang tawag ko sa kanya (Poe) sa Senado, sis. Ang tawag niya sa akin ay kuya,” he said. 

 

The decades-old gossip that Poe is the love child of former President Ferdinand Marcos and her aunt, former actress Rosemarie Sonora, was revived earlier this month after questions on her qualifications as a possible presidential candidate surfaced.

 

Poe,who said she had long been looking for her biological parents, said her adoptive mother Susan Roces, already denied the urban legend.

 

Roces and the late actor and one-time presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. raised her after she was found in an Iloilo City church.

 

Laughing at rumors

 

Though Marcos said he only heard the gossip about Poe a few years ago, he said he is no longer surprised that there are various rumors surrounding his family.

 

He said his mother, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, just laughs at rumors that they have secret family members.

 

“Tinatawanan lang namin ‘yung rumors. Bata pa ako may mga chismis nang ganyan. Sanay na ako sa mga ganyan. Kapag talaga nasa public eye ka, hindi na mawawala ‘yan,” Marcos said.

 

In jest, the senator said he surmises that the urban legend about Poe being his sister started from loose talk among drinking buddies.

 

“Palagay ko, iyong chismis sa amin ni Senator Grace galing lang talaga sa mga nag-iinuman na nagpagandahan ng kuwento,” he said.

Poe and Marcos have been figuring in pre-election surveys although they have yet to make formal announcements on whether or not they will run for higher office in 2016.

In a Pulse Asia survey on the performance ratings of senators released earlier this month, Poe received a 93-percent approval rating while Marcos had a 70-percent approval rating. — JDS, GMA News