Photo Release

Two decades ago: Sen. Grace Poe, after two decades, revisits the event that transpired on May 10, 2004 when her late father Fernando Poe Jr. ran as president but lost to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a controversial result and an alleged electoral fraud. During Wednesday’s plenary session, May 8, 2024, Poe delivered a privilege speech and showed a film presentation that detailed the events that unfolded twenty years ago. “I thought for a long time if I should relive this bitter episode, but it is not just a personal matter, it is history that should not be forgotten. It should serve as a lesson for the new and future generations. History is neither political nor personal, it only states what happened. It is a reminder to us that we must choose what legacy we want to leave to our children,” Poe said in Filipino. “A good two decades have passed since the “Hello Garci” was pulled off, and I am recalling it today, not as a daughter of the decent man who was robbed of votes, but as a senator of the Republic who believes it is her duty not to let this blot in our history fade from the nation’s memory,” she added. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)