Senator Manuel ‘’Lito’’ Lapid, a former movie actor, has condoled with the family of his colleague, Senator Grace Poe following the passing of the latter's adoptive mother, Philippine movie icon Susan Roces.
Lapid described Susan as his "idol" and and even tagged her "the mother of Filipino movies".
In a statement, Lapid said: ’’Malapit sa puso ko si Inday Susan hindi lamang dahil maybahay siya ng isang malapit na kaibigan na si Fernando Poe Jr. at ina ng aking kasamahan sa Senado na si Senador Grace Poe kung hindi dahil mahalagang haligi siya kasama ni Coco Martin sa programang tumanggap sa akin na makapagtanghal at maging makabuluhan sa telebisyon bilang pinuno sa 'Ang Probinsyano' (She is close to my heart not only because she was the widow of my close friend, Fernando Poe Jr. and mother of my colleague in the Senate, Senator Grace Poe, but also since she is a strong pillar of Coco Martin in ‘Ang Probinsyano', the program that accepted me allowed me to perform and be relevant in television).’’
Ang Probinsyano is one of the more popular movies of FPJ, the so-called "king of Philippine cinema".
The movie was serialized for TV many years later, with Martin top-billing the show.
On Friday night, May 20, Senator Poe announced the passing of Jesusa Sonora Poe, more popularly known as Susan Roces. She was 80.