The lion about to roar at Grace Poe: “Americans in the Palace!” Posted by The Society of Honor on September 14, 2015 · 296 Comments

It seems to me there is a train in motion and it has not yet reached the terminus, nor will it at the conclusion of the upcoming hearing on Senator Grace Poe’s eligibility to hold public office. There are three stations along the way, and we are only approaching number two. It seems to me that number three is the one that the good Senator will have the hardest time negotiating.

Here are the three stations:

One: Grace Poe’s birth

I’ve been on record with a very determined – I’d say principled – opinion on Senator Grace Poe’s birth and parentage:

Senator Grace Poe’s parentage is irrelevant. She was born a Filipino. Imposing a DNA test (Marcos baby?) is ridiculous, as if a child cannot be allowed to stand apart from mommy and daddy. That would say we don’t have the intellectual grasp, the strength of character, to let people DEMONSTRATE who they are. It is a form of bigotry, of bias, of judgment not unlike racism. What is important are Ms. Poe’s deeds, as an adult. The same is true for Senator Marcos, I might add. However, that’s a different blog. [Refer to: “The Poe files: a little matter of parentage“, and to: “Poe Part II: Do Filipinos grasp freedom?“]

The particulars of Grace Poe’s birth are absolutely, totally, completely irrelevant. She was not transported to the Philippines by flying saucer, not flown here by DHL. She was born here, under circumstances that ought to be respected. She was born a Filipino, a citizen, automatically, by definition. Anything laid on top of that is mainly titillation or prejudice or an over-abundance of insecurity.

Two: Grace Poe’s citizenship

Grace Poe is a Philippine citizen. She only carries a Philippine passport. She was not a Philippine citizen for a good many years, the exact term depending on how the end points are defined. But it was not short, 15 years or more as a young adult. She was American. Her husband is American, and will evidently remain American. Her kids are American, and will likely remain American.

The particulars of dates and documents have to be sorted out to determine if she qualifies to hold public office and still qualifies as a “natural born citizen”. I get a headache trying to read the lawyers at top blogger Raissa Robles’ site as they parse the dates and documents and legalities of Ms. Poe’s citizenship record down to the spaces between words that she wrote on the forms. I shall leave the sorting out of that to the various qualifying and judicial bodies. That’s their job.

I just come to a point in the decision tree that will eventually go one way or another, depending on how the referees rule:

If they say she is not qualified to run for the Presidency, or even be a Senator, case closed. The rules are the rules, just as it is the age rule that prevents Senator Bam Aquino from running for President in 2016.

If she is qualified to remain in the Senate, and run for President, then we need to move past the legalisms to the matter of allegiance, for that is what is behind the citizenship rules.

Three: Grace Poe’s allegiance

Citizenship represents, to the State, a bond that gives the nation confidence that people – citizens – are loyal. It determines who gets full rights under the Constitution.

It seems to me that various qualification criteria for high government officials, notably age and term-of-citizenship, are benchmark standards. They are somewhat subjective, because what does one year mean in Bam Aquino’s ability to work hard and smart? He’s doing that now. Why is a 10-year citizen any more loyal or less a security risk than a 9-year citizen? What does the single-nation citizenship requirement really mean when loyalty is a mental construct, a decision, a commitment, and not a tattoo on the forehead?

The criteria mean very little as far as I can tell. Deeds say a lot more. Bam Aquino is already qualified in my book, no matter his age.

However, the criteria do satisfy our innate need to FEEL confident and secure in our leadership. The criteria reflect that we possess a dose of skepticism, of wariness, of mistrust, of an “abundance of caution”. It’s like we want someone standing guard around the campfire all night even if no beasts have been heard or seen.

The criteria represent an emotional checkpoint, more than anything. An assurance.

And I think it is Filipino emotions that will judge Senator Poe’s fitness for the presidency. Not years as a citizen or some other practical, finite matter like the forms she filled out.

The emotional hot button for Filipinos is likely to be:

“Americans in the Palace!”

I think the people have yet to realize or record their emotional reaction to Americans in the Palace, but as I watch my Twitter feed, I can sense that they are waking up to a certain discomfort.

It’s even a problem for me, an American. I am nervous about where her allegiances rest.

I wish the rules didn’t allow someone who is not born in the Philippines, and a permanent citizen for life, to be President. I wish the “10 year citizenship rule” were an “always a citizen” rule.

I don’t think I should be President, ever. I don’t think Inquirer columnist Peter Wallace should be president 10 years after he is made a Philippine citizen, even if he has been here since 1975. I don’t think brilliant Society commenter, Filipino-Aussie Edgar Lores, should be president in 10 years if he were to return to the Philippines and toss his Australian documents and allegiance.

Something is missing or diluted in people who have been citizens of other lands. Oh, something is added, yes, a depth of experience and awareness and adaption. But it’s like pouring sugar into water. It makes the water sweeter, but the water is also not the same. It is diluted, maybe even tainted.

I think real, “highest integrity” allegiance runs deep. It is the kind of devotion that drives soldiers to dive on live grenades to save their buddies, or firemen to run up a building fire escape as a building is collapsing (World Trade Towers), or people to choke up when the Philippine national anthem is played in a foreign land. It is a kind of dedication that can’t really be put into words. A person who was born in the Philippines and lives his or her life belonging to the nation is different than one who takes that allegiance elsewhere, or consciously gives up that deep, deep dedication for some material or lifestyle advantage.

Can newcomers like me learn to love the Philippines? Of course. Do overseas Filipinos who are citizens of other lands love the Philippines? Of course. But we are missing something, and that is the honor, the privilege, the integrity of being forever and always, Filipino.

To be frank, I also question the allegiance of a lot of Filipino citizens who have always been citizens. I can’t comprehend a patriot willing to steal taxpayer money, for example. Feed Filipino kids dirty bread. Take the clothes from their backs. Sell arms to the enemy. I can’t relate pride and sacrifice and a soaring heart – for the Philippines – to crass, manipulative, thieves and murderers who believe they are entitled BY GOD to steal from innocents.

Talk about high risk beasts and a need for wariness . . .

But back to Grace Poe.

My own personal wariness as to Grace Poe’s allegiance is a product of her deeds. It is cerebral more than emotional.

Judging by her deeds . . . not heritage . . . Grace Poe’s allegiance is fickle. It is fluid. It goes with expediency, not principle. Her avid willingness to criticize the standing government displays an odd lack of pride in the Philippines and the Aquino Administration’s considerable accomplishments.

Well, it’s much like her ability to offer up oaths here and there, on citizenship. To drop and swap allegiances as they suit her. Allegiance seems to be a tool for her, for her goals.

Her deeds, her words, here in the Philippines, in public office as a Senator, reflect that fluidity:

What patriotic senator would insert herself into Philippine foreign affairs and suggest a change in direction is to be expected with regard to America, unless it is because the statement would be popular among Filipinos? [“Grace Poe: PHL shouldn’t rely on US in West Philippine Sea dispute“; GMA News Online]

What realm of sacrifice for nation is embodied in her willingness to decline the offer of the Vice Presidency graciously presented by President Aquino?

What was gained from the Mamasapano hearings she chaired with Senator Escudero? A political result castigating the President, generals in tears, secrets dumped into public view, integrity of earnest peace negotiators questioned, and the BBL in tatters. No healing. No uplift of the nation. It is a rather peculiar way to demonstrate care-taking of nation. But it was great for her popularity as she surfed deftly onto the Mamasapano rage.

What was the meaning of her statement (again with Senator Escudero) saying that she did not support the BBL, a statement recanted the next day by Senator Escudero? What is the good Senator FOR, I often wonder. [“Poe, Escudero say they’re against BBL, lifting of limits“; Inquirer]

What was gained by her refusal to support law and order over a reckless Iglesia ni Cristo church seeking to avoid a police investigation by staging a mass protest?

So I look for dedication to the Philippines, and I see political play, angling for popularity rather than what is good for the nation. I’m wary.

To tell the truth, I suspect that for many Filipinos, such logic will be irrelevant. What will be relevant is the widespread love/hate relationship that Filipinos have with the US, the hate attached to the history of a brutal Philippine American War and its attendant racism, the insult of occupancy, destruction of Manila in WW II, and US support of the brutal Marcos regime.

Their reaction, I suspect, will be simple. And visceral.

“Americans in the Palace?” “No way.”

That is likely to be the toughest hurdle for Senator Poe to overcome.