Loren Legarda Leviste: Beauty
and Brains… and
Ambition
Beauty and brains. These were the first words that
come to mind whenever one thinks of Loren Legarda-Leviste,
the
youngest lady senator elected (placing number one during
her first try with over 15 million votes). Reports of her
developing association with Eduardo “Danding” Conjuangco
Jr. however is showing another side of the lady senator. BY
ROWENA CARRANZA Bulatlat.com
Loren will always be remembered for her admirable performance during the Estrada
impeachment trial as a senator-judge. Her intelligence and media experience helped
her to outshine the other senators, most of whom were lawyers and more experienced
politicians.
But even before this, her “No” vote to the Visiting Forces Agreement
(VFA) in 2000 established her credibility and strengthened her image as a serious
and thinking public official, a stark contrast to her basketball star and fantasy
movie idol colleagues who sat through entire senate sessions as if afflicted
with autism (my apologies to autistic patients).
She also endeared herself to leftists when she issued a statement in August 2002
after Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman,
was tagged as terrorist by the United States government. She said, “For
more than three decades now, Jose Maria Sison and a very special breed of Filipinos
have pursued an extraordinary course that has shaped post-war Philippine politics
and society in a fundamental way. One may not necessarily agree with their alternative
vision of Philippine society, but no one can doubt the integrity of their patriotism
or the depth of their commitment to help bring about a more just and a more humane
society.”
Loren was also involved in the release of several prisoners of war held by the
New People’s Army (NPA), traveling to Utrecht, the Netherlands to talk
to Sison and company and trudging up mountain trails to get to turnover ceremonies
of the prisoners. But mind you, not a hair would be out of place and the make-up
still perfect despite the long and grueling walks.
She has also espoused the resumption of the peace talks between the government
and National Democratic Front (NDF).
Loren also sought the deferment of the U.S.-RP joint military exercises amid
the Iraq war. She also opposed granting the U.S. military access to Philippine
air space, ports, and other facilities without some "security requirements
such as (military) equipment, not necessarily in monetary terms."
"
I personally think that we should stay out of the war (in Iraq) although I value
our relations with the United States. We should not join a war that is not ours,
as we have many domestic problems," she said.
She also took up the cudgels for media men, campaigning for the decriminalization
of libel filed against newsmen. Some of the bills she sponsored are landmark
legislations, including the Clean Air Act, Early Childhood Care and Development
Act, Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, Anti-trafficking in Women and Children
Law, and Absentee Voting Law.
According to the official web site of the Philippine Senate, Loren had the most
bills and resolutions filed (479 to be exact). Among them are resolutions concerning
human rights, environment, women and children’s rights and welfare, overseas
Filipino workers, and peace.
Among the last ones she filed was a resolution seeking to honor the centennial
birth anniversary of Ka Bert Olalia, a labor leader detained during martial law.
As the majority floor leader, Loren handles the Senate committee on rules and
is an ex-officio member of all committees. She is perceived as an efficient and
effective Senate leader.
The public apparently agrees since Loren has consistently been among the topnotchers
in surveys by different polling groups. The latest survey by Ibon Foundation
places Loren as No. 1 choice by respondents for vice president with 23.40 percent.
A recent Social Weather Station survey on the other hand puts Loren in second
place.
Issues against Loren
But the lady senator is not without controversies. The most prominent – and
entertaining – was when Ador Mawanay, a witness against Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s
involvement in narco-politics, alleged during a senate committee hearing that
Loren bought PhP 8.9 million worth of smuggled phones from him. But not even
Loren’s critics could swallow Mawanay’s story. Loren though lost
her cool during the committee hearing and earned criticisms from the public.
Meanwhile, media personalities who continue to have television shows while serving
as public officials are believed by many as violating the law that defines a
code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees. They
are forbidden to “engage in private practice of their profession unless
authorized by the Constitution or law, provided that such practice will not conflict
or tend to conflict with official functions.”
Loren, along with several other media-celebrities-turned-politicians, has been
questioned for “straddling between the Senate and the media” – two
institutions that should check each other. Loren responded by invoking the principle
of separation of powers.
In his column in BusinessWorld, Vergel Santos noted: “That would be laughable
if it were not dangerous. Legarda wants to keep all the powers she has taken
for herself -- powers meant to balance one another and, therefore, to be exercised
by separate individuals or institutions.”
Loren does not only host a show (Tara, Tena, ABS-CBN, on Saturdays at 10:30-11:30
a.m.) but does commercials, too. Santos criticized her for promoting a Proctor
and Gamble detergent and saying, “one naturally wonders whether the deal
stretches beyond the commercial.”
Santos cited an Asian Wall Street Journal report that Proctor and Gamble last
year contributed $100,000 (or PhP5.475 million) to Legarda’s foundation.
Aside from the detergent, Loren also came out in a Philippine Information Agency
infomercial on planting trees and on a print endorsement of the Mandarin Hotel
in Makati City.
Loren, who helped secure the release of kidnapped broadcast journalist Arlyn
de la Cruz in 2002, was also reported to have facilitated the payment of P2 million
ransom to dela Cruz’s kidnappers. The news wire Agence France-Presse quoted
the AFP’s “Journal of Incidents” for the period covering “1700H
April 27 to 1700H April 28” as saying the kidnappers handed Arlyn de la
Cruz to a Legarda intermediary in Jolo Saturday after the money was paid "for
the release of the victim.” The AFP’s information office later said
it has no reports regarding ransom payments for Dela Cruz.
Loren’s participation in the release of De la Cruz also created a rift
between her and Sen. Noli de Castro who had also negotiated for De la Cruz’s
release.
De Castro had been negotiating for the release and giving the media an update
on De la Cruz’s condition. According to De Castro, Loren called up his
intermediary, Prof. Mashur Bin Ghalib Jundam, whose calls to him then abruptly
ended. When de la Cruz was finally released, it was with Loren and not De Castro.
De Castro was quoted in the papers as saying he doubted if de la Cruz was indeed
released only through "himas-himas" (friendly persuasion).
There were also talks about Loren’s husband, former Batangas Gov. Antonio
Leviste, being involved in the awarding of the PhP2.9-billion Batangas International
Seaport project to a non-complying bidder.
Leviste sits as an alternate member in the Philippine
Ports Authority. The Korean-based Hanjin-Konoike joint
venture, which completed the first phase of the project
in 1999, had denounced in a letter to the president the
government’s decision to award the billion-peso
contract to Shimizu/F.F. Cruz Co. Inc. Hanjin-Kanoike
alleged that Shimizu/F. F. Cruz did not comply with,
among other things, the 1,080-day construction period
and equipment requirements.
Loren defended her husband, saying “the matter
of the awarding of the contract was the exclusive affair
of the Philippine Ports Authority.” The board,
in awarding the project to Shimizu, only affirmed a decision
made by the previous board under the Estrada administration.
Resignation
Loren’s resignation last week from Lakas political
part was more or less a signal that the campaign for
the 2004 elections is heating up.
Her resignation was lauded by the militant Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan, which said, “It is always a wise move
to distance oneself from a party that has lost its principles
and a party head whose word cannot be trusted.”
But then, was Loren’s resignation brought about
by conflicts in principles – or conflicts in political
plans? It has only been Vice President Teofisto Guingona
who has really dared to openly express opposition to
any of Macapagal-Arroyo’s policies – even
to the point of giving up his position and privileges.
It is more likely that the dominant factor in Loren’s
resignation was her 2004 political plans. When President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decides to finally confirm that
she will run for president (and there has never been
any real doubt that she will), Loren and other Lakas
members who have been flirting with the Nationalist People’s
Coalition’s most likely frontrunner, Danding Cojuangco,
have no recourse but to resign.
The workers’ union of San Miguel Corp., a food
and beverage giant controlled by Cojuangco, has issued
a statement, warning Loren not to “commit political
suicide” by aligning herself with Cojuangco. This,
it said, puts the senator’s integrity and sincerity
in serving the interests of workers and ordinary people
into question.
Ambition
The third word that comes to mind when thinking of Loren
is the word “ambition.” It was also the word
used by some Senate reporters when asked by this writer
to comment about Loren. Loren has ambitions, they said.
But then, ambition is not a bad thing. It is only when
you allow ambition to override your principles that it
becomes a negative factor. Loren has some made good decisions
in her career and taken actions that showed an independent
and critical mind. Many hope that her ambition for a
higher political office would not take her away from
this independent and critical position.
Bulatlat.com
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