Loren Legarda

Loren B. Legarda
Senator of the Philippines
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Senate of the Philippines Senate Majority Floor Leader
In office 2001–2003
Senator of the Philippines
In office 1998–2004
Personal details
Born	(1960-01-28) January 28, 1960 Manila, Philippines
Political party	NPC (2007 to date) Independent (2004-2005) KNP (2003-2004) Lakas-CMD (1998-2003)
Residence	Quezon City
Alma mater	University of the Philippines
Occupation	Journalist; Politician
Profession	Journalist; Politician

Senator Loren Legarda is the only female senator who has topped the senate race twice, in 1998 with over 15 million votes and in 2007 with over 18 million votes. She is also the only woman to become majority leader.

Life

Loren is the oldest and only girl in the family of three children of Antonio Cabrera Legarda and Bessie Gella Bautista. Loren is single with two sons.

She was born to a family of newsmen, educators, physicians and public servants. Her paternal great grandfather Potenciano Cabrera was the first Mayor of San Pablo City, Laguna while her maternal great granduncle Vicente Gella was a Governor of Antique. Kapitan Moy Guevara, her maternal great granduncle, was the founder of the shoe industry of Marikina. Her grandfather, Jose P. Bautista, was a pillar of Philippine journalism.

Political career

Drawing from her vast experience as a journalist for 20 years and a decade as a public servant, Loren authored and sponsored vital pieces of legislation geared towards environmental protection, promotion of entrepreneurship, protection of the rights of women and children, overseas workers and domestic laborers, providing better health services to the public, social justice, national unity and inculcating the value of nationalism and love of country. Her dedication as a legislator brought forth the passage of many significant laws including the following: the Barangay Livelihood and Skills Training Act (RA 9509), the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (RA 9501),the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (RA 9262),the Philippine Ear Research Institute Act( RA 9245),the Philippine Tropical Fabric Law (RA 9242),the Anti-Child Labor Law (RA 9231),the Anti Trafficking in Persons Act (RA 9208),the Eid’ul Fitr Holiday Law (RA 9177), and the Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), among many others.

Loren also earned praise for her tireless effort in bringing warring factions to negotiate peace talks. She played a crucial role in the safe and expeditious release of military and police officers and men who were held captive by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and fellow journalists who were held captive in Sulu. For her outstanding work for the cause of Muslims, Loren was bestowed the title of Bai a labi (Honorary Muslim Princess) by the Marawi Sultanate league.

Loren also established the Libro ni Loren Foundation, Inc. to help improve the literacy level in the country’s poorest provinces. She founded the Bessie Legarda Memorial Foundation, Inc. to provide medical assistance to indigent breast cancer victims and serve as support group to their families. She organized the Livelihood Opportunities to Raise Entrepreneurship Nationwide (LOREN) which provided capital for women entrepreneurs.

In 1998, Loren founded Luntiang Pilipinas to promote public awareness on the environment and to enjoin multi-sectoral participation in addressing environmental problems. It has since established hundreds of forest parks with more than two million trees nationwide. For her unfaltering crusade for the environment, Loren was given recognition in the year 2000 by the World Economic Forum, which named her one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow. She was also awarded by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in 2001 as a UNEP Laureate. Loren’s name has been included in the Global 500 Roll of Honor for being in the frontline of global environmental action. In 2004, she became an Awardee for the Environment by the Priyadarshni Academy in Mumbai, India. Aware of the declining state of the Philippine environment and its harmful effects to the health and security of Filipinos, Loren delivered privilege speeches in the Senate, entitled “CPR For Mother Earth” and “An Agenda for Climate Change Adaptation” as part of her information campaign on environmental protection. Her speeches, converted into lectures, are now being distributed to public schools nationwide to stir the youth into action and contribute in caring for the environment. She likewise moved for the creation of the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change to help monitor and consolidate the government’s efforts towards mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. These initiatives and her firm resolve to bring the issue of climate change and disaster risk reduction to the forefront of policymaking led to her appointment as United Nations Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in the Asia Pacific.

Vice-Presidential run

Main article: Philippine general election, 2004

In 2003, she quit the administration party Lakas to join the opposition KNP coalition of Fernando Poe, Jr. In the 2004 election, she lost to fellow ABS-CBN anchorman and Senator Noli de Castro by a margin of 800,000 votes.

After her bid in the election, she filed an electoral protest before the Supreme Court, which was later thrown out.

Senator

Today, Loren continues on her path of distinction and excellence. Now on her second term as senator, Loren chairs the Committee on Agriculture, the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization, Committee on Health and Demography, and the Committee on Climate Change and the Oversight Committee on Climate Change.

Personal life

An achiever all her life, Loren completed her primary and secondary schooling at the Assumption Convent with honors. She obtained a degree in broadcast communications and graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines. While working as a broadcast journalist, Loren pursued her post-graduate studies at the National Defense College of the Philippines where she obtained a degree in National Security Administration and graduated at the top of her class. Loren is now a reserve officer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

As a journalist, Loren earned prestigious awards such as the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) from the Philippine Jaycees (1992), The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Award (1993), and the Benigno Aquino Award for Journalism (1995) for her sterling record as a journalist for more than two decades.

Filmography

TV Shows

• Discorama (1982-1985), as a DJ
• The World Tonight (1986-1998)
• Pep Talk (1986-1990)
• The Inside Story (1990-1998)
• Kabalikat (2001-2003)
• Tara Tena (2003-2004)
• Real Stories Kasama si Loren (2004-2007)

Movies

• Markova: Comfort Gay (2000)

2010 Presidency

On January 10, 2008, President Joseph Estrada officially announced (at the People Asia magazine’s "People of the Year" awards at the Hotel InterContinental, Makati City) that he picked himself as the 2010 opposition presidentiable: "Wala sa kanila mananalo. Sarili ko na lang ang pipiliin ko (None of them is winnable. I will only pick myself)." The commissioned December 15 to 30 survey of presidentiables showed Loren Legarda leading, followed by Noli De Castro, Sen. Francis Escudero, Sen. Panfilo Lacson as 4th most favored, followed by Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr., Mar Roxas, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Metro Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando, Sen. Richard Gordon, and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.

On January 29, 2008, Philippine Sen. Loren Legarda donated P 1 million ($ 1 = P 40) needed for 4-year-old deaf Filipino Raphael Angelo Provido’ cochlear implant at the Philippine General Hospital. Guillermo Mallillin, president of the Gruppo Technico Medico International Inc., distributes the cochlear implant device in the Philippines. Its Australian counterpart granted 70% discount on the device, which costs $20,000 a pair.

The team-up of Legarda and Francis Escudero firmed up for the Philippine general election, 2010. Escudero stated:“If I were to choose a presidential candidate, it will be Loren. For whatever reason, Loren and I will always be together. In running, we won’t be apart.” Legarda said: “I already ran for vice president in 2004 and won.”

See also

• Genuine Opposition

References

The official Website of Loren Legarda [1] The Official Blog of Senator Loren Legarda [2] The Official Youtube Channel of Senator Loren Legarda [3]

External links

• www.supremecourt.gov.ph, gmanews.tv/video, P.E.T. Case No. 003, Legarda vs. De Castro