In a showbiz career spanning nearly 70 years, she showed an incredible range as an actress, getting noticed by critics and winning her share of acting awards in the process. An epitome of poise and decorum to the very end, she was initially consigned to light dramas and romantic comedies until she came into her own as an actress after marrying Fernando Poe Jr. and later raising their only daughter, now Sen. Grace Poe. To a younger generation of Filipinos, the former PeopleAsia People of the Year awardee will forever be known as the wise and endearing Lola Flora in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Veteran actress Susan Roces, wife of the late showbiz icon Fernando Poe Jr. and mother of Sen. Grace Poe, died yesterday evening, May 20, according to social media posts made by immediate family members. She was 80 years old.
Poe made a public statement to media outlets confirming her mother’s passing.
“With great sadness, we announce the loss of our beloved Jesusa Sonora Poe, whom many of you know as Susan Roces. She passed away peacefully on a Friday evening, May 20, 2022, surrounded by love and warmth, with her daughter Grace, her nephews Joseph and Jeffrey and many of her family and close friends.
“She lived life fully and gracefully. Remember her in her beauty, warmth and kindness. She is now with the Lord and her beloved Ronnie — FPJ. We will miss her sorely but we celebrate a life well lived. Susan Roces — daughter, mother, grandmother, a true Filipina and a national treasure.”
A related statement said that Susan succumbed to cardiac arrest. She also leaves behind younger sister Rosemarie Sonora and several grandchildren.
Susan, the proud mom on daughter Grace Poe’s graduation day. Yes, in reference to the nonsensical criticism circulating on the Internet regarding Vice President Leni Robredo’s decision to post a picture on social media of her and daughter Jillian on the latter’s graduation day, such occasions need to be photographed. (From Sen. Grace Poe’s Instagram account)
In an article written by PeopleAsia editor-in-chief Joanne Rae Ramirez marking Sen. Poe’s 50th birthday in 2018, the senator, an adopted child, said: “First I’d like to thank my mom, who without her I don’t think I would’ve stood a chance anywhere. She was the one who really taught me the basic foundations of what I believe in, of what should I do, how should I act. Thank you mom for your courage, thank you for showing by example that you should always be compassionate but you should always be wise.”
Sen. Poe also recounted in the article that her mom recently chided her for not having enough bonding time with her. “She said, ‘Aba, kailan na tayo magkwekwentuhan. Baka nakalimutan mo hindi ka lang senador, anak din kita’. And so thank you mom for always reminding me what the important things are.”
Once dubbed as “The Face that Refreshes” by the Vera-Perez family, owners of Sampaguita Pictures and Susan’s first mentors in showbiz, the Bacolod native, whose real name was Jesusa Purificacion Levy Sonora, joined the movies in the early 1950s, a period now described as the “first golden age of Philippine cinema.”
Alongside on-screen rival, the late Amalia Fuentes, she first rose to prominence mostly in romantic comedies, which paired her with the likes of Eddie Gutierrez and the late Romeo Vasquez and Jose Mari Gonzales in such lighthearted fare as Boksingera, Wedding Bells and Dance-O-Rama.
It was after she married Poe Jr., dubbed as “Da King” of Philippine movies, in the late ’60s, when Susan slowly came into her own as a serious actress, getting noticed by critics and even getting nominated and winning her share of acting awards for such films as Maruja, Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara, Pandemonium, Maligno, Tanikala, Gumising Ka, Maruja and Isinakdal Ko ang Aking Ina.
She also starred in a number of films with her late husband, including Perlas ng Silanganan, Salaginto’t Salagubang and the Mahal series.
Younger generations of Filipinos, including co-workers in the industry, got to know Susan more when she emerged out of semi-retirement to star as Lola Flora in the ABS-CBN-produced FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano. The top-rated and long-running series is based on the character and exploits of honest cop Cardo Dalisay, which was first essayed on the big screen by Poe Jr. himself a few decades ago.
Susan almost became the country’s first lady when her husband run and narrowly lost in the much-contested 2004 presidential elections won by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Shortly after her husband’s death in late 2004, a feisty Susan, in a strongly worded speech, made headlines when she accused the Arroyo administration of stealing the government “not once but twice.”
She was later honored by PeopleAsia magazine as one of its People of the Year awardees in 2015.
