Does Sen. Grace Poe belong to this country, thus is one of us?

As a Catholic, I often hear during the Holy Mass the offertory song with these lines: “Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man… One Bread, One Body.” It is sad that in the case of Grace Poe many Filipinos consider her not a natural-born citizen, thus implying that she is not one of us. And our leaders, most of whom come from prestigious Catholic schools, seem to agree that she is not one of us. Worst, our moral leaders are silent. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is silent. Are we no longer a Christian nation? We are interested to hear what Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a constitutionalist and moral leader, has to say about this issue.

Yes, this is a political and legal discussion. But is it not true that our good values and faith should also find expression in our political and legal exercises? Can we say, we cease to be Christians when we enter politics or when we exercise our legal rights? Is it not that we become more Christian when we do public service because to serve is the ultimate goal of Christianity?

Grace Poe wants to serve. Let us give her a chance to do so. Let us be reminded that in the course of living, there have been many instances where other people gave us second or third chances (for whatever other reasons) to change our lives for the better, to pay our debts, to take up other careers and many more. Why can’t we give Grace Poe the chance to prove her worth? Yes, she renounced her Filipino citizenship. We know that. But how many times we ourselves have denied our being a Filipino? How many times have we purchased foreign products, how many times have we laughed at the wrong pronunciations of our fellow Filipinos from the province? Have we not preferred foreign songs and foreign movies over Filipino compositions or productions? Have we tried to appear and sound like a foreigner?

The Parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us the value of acceptance. The story is not focused on the son but on the father, who despite the sins of the son, and upon seeing him returning in repentance, was more than excited to welcome him. In the same way, why not accept Grace Poe’s homecoming? I may not vote for her, but this I shall say should I be asked if she belongs to this country: “Naturally, she is one of us!” This is not because I am an expert in law, but because my Christian faith and nation raised me to believe so.

—CARLOS ERWIN IGCALINOS FAJARDO, values education teacher, Mater Ecclesiae School, San Pedro, Laguna