Loren Legarda

Loren Legarda
File:BizNewsAsia-loren-legarda.jpg
Senator of the Philippines
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 2007
Senate of the Philippines Senate Majority Floor Leader
In office 2001–2004
Preceded by	Francisco Tatad
Succeeded by	Francis Pangilinan
Senator of the Philippines
In office June 30, 1998 – June 30, 2004
Personal details
Born	Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda (1960-01-28) January 28, 1960 Malabon, Metro Manila, Philippines
Political party	NPC (2007 to present)
Other political affiliations	Lakas-CMD (1998-2003)
Children	2 sons
Residence	Manila
Alma mater	Assumption College University of the Philippines
Occupation	Senator
Profession	Journalist; Environmentalist
Website	Loren Legarda Luntiang Pilipinas

Loren Legarda is a Filipino broadcast journalist, environmentalist, and politician of Visayan ancestry, notable as the only female to top two senatorial elections (1998 and 2007). During the 2004 Philippine general election, she ran for the position of Vice-President as an Independent with Fernando Poe, Jr. as running mate. Currently, she is running again for the Vice-Presidency with Manny Villar.

Legarda is a notable advocate of Climate Change Awareness and has numerous achievements in the fields of social development and human rights advocacy along with her work in journalism. As a journalist, she has received many awards. In 2008, she was chosen as "United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Asia Pacific Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation". She was a member of the Philippine delegation during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.

The Maranao Sultanate League bestowed Legarda the honorary title of "Bai Alabi", or "Princess". She has Karay-a lineage and speaks English, Filipino, Ilonggo, Tagalog, and her native Kinaray-a, fluently. Aside from these, she is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve Corps.

Early life

Born Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda on January 28, 1960 in Malabon, Legarda is the only daughter of Antonio Cabrera Legarda of San Pablo, Laguna and of Bessie Gella Bautista of Malabon, both of whom have roots in Antique. Her maternal grandfather was Jose P. Bautista, editor-in-chief of the pre-Martial Law newspaper, The Manila Times, and one of the pillars of Philippine journalism. As a teenager, she appeared in various television and print ads as a commercial model and/or DJ. During her youth, she consistently got honors in school. She was able to become a valedictorian from the Assumption College, where she spent her early schooling, while she graduated with a cum laude after attending the University of the Philippines.

Career

RPN 9 and ABS-CBN (1985-1998)

Legarda began her career in journalism as a reporter for RPN-9, with notable features on Imelda Marcos' trip to Kenya as well as on the People Power Revolution. During this period, she obtained a master’s degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines, where she emerged as top-notcher (the NDCP awarded her gold medals for Academic Excellence and Best Thesis) in spite of being the youngest in the class. Later, she would move to the television station ABS-CBN, where Legarda would achieve her best success in her career as a journalist. She became the anchor of the television newscast, The World Tonight, and became the host of the highly acclaimed documentary series, The Inside Story. One of her most remarkable moments in this era was her rare interview with Michael Jackson, who dedicated the song Heal the World to the Filipino people. During this period, she received more than thirty major awards, including the Catholic Mass Media Hall of Fame, KBP Golden Dove Award, the Gawad CCP, and the Ten Outstanding Young Men and Women (TOYM) award, among many others.

Senate, 1st term (1998-2004)

Senator Loren Legarda during a 2007 Philippine Military Academy ceremony.

After becoming urged by the Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos, Legarda ran for the Senate in 1998 under the Lakas-NUCD-UMDP Party. She was elected with more than 15 million votes, allowing her to be the highest vote-getter in that year's election. During her tenure, she played crucial roles in the release of several hostages abducted as a result of the Insurgency in the Philippines. These include the release from captivity of five military and police officers and personnel (including General Victor Obillo of the Philippine Army) held by the CPP-NPA-NDF in April 1999, of Army Major Noel Buan in April 2001 from a two-year captivity, and of fellow journalist Arlene dela Cruz from her Abu Sayyaf abductors in Jolo, Sulu.

During her first six years in the Senate, Legarda authored legislation benefiting women's and children's rights, such as the Anti-Domestic Violence Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. She also authored of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law and the Tropical Fabric Law, which is consistent with her environmental advocacy. Aside from these achievements, she has allowed dozens of former child laborers to enroll in school through the "Libro ni Loren Foundation", which also conducts regular medical missions benefiting breast cancer patients through the "Bessie Legarda Memorial Foundation". She was later chosen to be the Senate's Majority Floor Leader from 2001-2004.

2004 elections and ABC 5 (2004-2007)

In 2003, Legarda left Lakas-CMD (after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo broke her pledge not to run again for president) and joined the KNP coalition of Fernando Poe, Jr. as an Independent during the 2004 elections. She, however, lost to fellow ABS-CBN anchorman and senator, Noli de Castro, who was also Arroyo's running mate. Amid allegations of cheating directed against Arroyo, Legarda filed an electoral protest before the Supreme Court. The Court ultimately decided not to push through with the case due to Legarda's bid for senator in 2007. While outside of politics, she continued her career as a journalist working for the network ABC 5 (now TV 5). There, she hosted Real Stories: Kasama si Loren, a documentary program based on her original program Kabalikat.

Senate, 2nd term and 2010 elections (2007-present)

In 2007, Legarda decided to run again for Senate under the banner of the Genuine Opposition coalition. She won, receiving more than 18 million votes, which allowed her to become the top vote-getter in that election. On January 10, 2008, rumors arose that Legarda would run for president after she topped a survey held during that period. Later that month, she donated 1 million pesos for 4-year-old deaf Filipino Raphael Angelo Provido’s cochlear implant at the Philippine General Hospital. She would eventually be instrumental in the release of ABS-CBN News journalist Ces Drilon from the Abu Sayyaf. On July 14, 2009, Legarda announced her intention to run as president during the 2010 elections. On August 15, her bill, the Magna Carta on Women was passed. Later, on October 23 of that same year, during the launch of her humanitarian program "Lingkod Loren in Luneta", she formally declared her intention to run for vice-president in 2010 under Nationalist People's Coalition with the platform of environmentalism. After her supposed running mate, Francis Escudero, decided quit the elections, she decided that it would be best to stick with the Nacionalista Party's presidential candidate, Manny Villar, as a guest-running mate. She and Villar would later file their certificate of candidacies together on November 30, 2009. Legarda had initially criticized Villar for a road extension project but has now switched sides and is now defending him.

Environmental advocacy

With her "Luntiang Pilipinas" foundation, Legarda has planted over two million trees all over the Philippine archipelago. The charity also launched its 10@10: The Ten Million Trees Campaign, a viral tree planting campaign with the intention of planting 10 million trees by the year 2011. This campaign aims to contribute to the United Nations Environmental Program, which aims to reach the seven billion-tree mark by 2009. One of her major accomplishments as an environmentalist is the passage of the Climate Change Act in October 2009. She filed this bill two years ago, through inspiration from the Albay Declaration, the outcome document of the First National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, as it called for “the passage of a policy prioritizing climate change adaptation in the national agenda”. Legarda was chosen by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a member of the Philippine delegation during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.

Legarda has achieved numerous awards in her line of work on environmentalism. These include the "Global Leaders for Tomorrow" awarded by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the "Global 500 Roll of Honour" by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in 2001. In 2004, she became an Environment Awardee of the Priyadarshni Academy in Mumbai, India. In 2008, Legarda was appointed as UNISDR Asia Pacific Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, and she participated in the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, the BBC World Debate: ‘Prevent or React’, and the Forum on the Human Impact of Climate Change in Geneva, Switzerland.

Criticism

Legarda is often regarded as a "political butterfly" by her critics and opponents due to her seemingly "fluttering" positions on particular political issues. Critics often point out as examples her actions regarding Joseph Estrada in 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, and Manny Villar in 2009, which did not seem to be consistent when comparing her initial actions with her later ones. This has led ordinary people to assume that she does not have a solid base when it come to her political beliefs.

Personal life

Legarda was once married to former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio "Tony" Leviste from 1989-2003. They have two sons, Lorenzo and Leandro. The couple have since been separated. On January 14, 2009, Leviste was convicted of homicide in the killing of his longtime friend and aide Rafael de las Alas and was sentenced for 6-12 years in prison. She has Karay-a and Spanish lineage and speaks several langauges fluently, including English, Filipino, Ilonggo, Tagalog, and her native Kinaray-a. Legarda is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Philippine Air Force Reserve Corps. She is highly respected by the Moro since the Maranao Sultanate League bestowed her the honorary title of "Bai Alabi", or "Princess".

Filmography

Year	Film / Television	Role	Network
1975-86	Discorama	DJ / Presenter	GMA Network
1980-86	Who Knows That?	Host / Presenter	GMA Network
1985	Manila Envelope	Host / Presenter
1986-98	The World Tonight	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
1986-90	Pep Talk	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
1990-98	The Inside Story	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
2000	Markova: Comfort Gay	Herself
2001-03	Kabalikat: Loren Legarda	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
2003	Sa mata ng balita: 50 taong pamamahayag sa telebisyon	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
2003-04	Tara Tena	Newscaster / Presenter	ABS-CBN
2004-07	Real Stories: Kasama si Loren	Newscaster / Presenter	ABC 5