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Sen. Loren Legarda was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1998, where
she
topped the senatorial race
with an overwhelming mandate of more than 15
million votes, and became the youngest woman elected to the Senate.
She
brings to the Senate a long and distinguished career in broadcast
journalism. For two decades, she devoted herself to
critically-acclaimed
television programs such as PEP Talk, The Inside Story, The World
Tonight
and Earthlink,
shows that scrutinize the personalities, issues and
events
that shape Philippine Society.
Working for the country’s
leading television network, ABS-CBN
Broadcasting
Corporation, Senator Legarda gained national prominence as host,
producer
and anchor of various programs. These brought her to major events, to
unfolding dramas across the nation
and abroad, and to exclusive
interviews
with heads of state and international personalities.
While working
as a broadcast journalist, obtained a master’s degree in
National Security Administration from the National Defense
College of
the
Philippines, where she emerged as topnotcher (NDCP awarded her gold
medals
for Academic Excellence
and Best Thesis) and where she was the youngest
in
the class. She is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve
Corps.
As a legislator, Senator Legarda has devoted herself to some of the
most
critical issues and concerns
facing Philippine society. She has
encapsulated
these concerns in the acronym LOREN – Law and Order; Rights
of Women,
youth
and children; Education, environment and employment; and Nationalism.
In 1999, Senator Legarda
was the only woman in so-called “Magnificent
Five”
who voted against the controversial RP-US Visiting
Forces Agreement
(VFA),
despite tremendous public pressure for its ratification.
Because of her deep concern
for human rights, Senator Legarda played a
crucial role in the expeditious release of five military and police
officers
and personnel held captive by the CCP-NPA-NDF in April 1999. The
captives
included General Victor Obillo of the
Philippine Army. In April 2001,
Senator Legarda again championed human rights when she led the
Humanitarian
and
Peace Mission for safe and successful return of Army Major Noel
Buan to
his family after almost two years of captivity
by rebel groups. She was
also
instrumental in the release of fellow journalist Arlene dela Cruz from
her
abductors
in Jolo, Sulu
An environmentalist, Senator Legarda’s tree growing program, Luntiang
Pilipinas, is being implemented
by local government units, partner
corporations, NGOs in urban areas throughout the country.
To help upgrade education
in rural areas, she organized the Libro ni
Loren
Foundation, which seeks to provide schools in far-flung regions with
books
and computers. It also provides a scholarship program primarily for
victims
of child labor in the gold
mining communities of Camarines Norte.
On June 9, 1999, she launched a livelihood program called L.O.R.E.N. or
Livelihood
Opportunities to Raise Employment Nationwide. This program
aims
to provide skills and entrepreneurial training, job
placement and
small-scale financial assistance to unemployed and disadvantaged
citizens.
Under this program, Senator
Legarda has provided scholarships to over
400
out-of-school youths, in coordination with the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority.
The Eleventh Congress was marked by her active participation in the
enactment
of significant pieces of legislation such as the Philippine
Clean
Air Act (RA 8479), Public Employment Service Office
(RA 8759), Mt.
Kitanglad
Protected Area Act (RA8978), Early Childhood Care and Development Act
(RA
8980),
Batanes Protect Area Act (RA 8991), and Integrated Solid Waste
Management Act (RA 9003).
As the Twelfth Congress
opened last June 30, 2001, Senator Legarda
emerged
as the top bill-filer with a total of 229 bills and 37 resolutions.
Among
her priority measures for the new Congress, and which have been enacted
into
law, are: the Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Act, Overseas Absentee Voting
Act,
Citizenship Retention Act, Magna Carta for Child Labor, Declaring Eidul
Fitr
as a National Holiday, Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) Act,
National Service Training Program,
Government Procurement Reform Act,
among
others. Other priority measures are Clean Water Bill, Sustainable
Forest
Management Act, and the National Landmarks Conservation Act.
Last July 23, when the First Regular Session of the
12th Congress
commenced,
Senator Legarda was elected as chair of the Committee on Rules and
became
the first
woman ever to hold the post of Senate Majority Leader. In
January
this year, after resigning from her post as Chair
of the Rules
Committee and
deciding to become political independent, she was designated to chair
the
Committee
on Women, Youth and Family Relations.
She also writes a weekly column for a leading daily newspaper, the
Manila
Bulletin, which is also printed in the tabloid, Balita. She also
contributed
articles to The Manila-US Times and
The Filipino Reporter which are
circulated in Los Angeles and New York, USA, respectively. The Senator
hosted a weekly
program, KABALIKAT, also aired over ABS-CBN Channel 2,
where
she personally immerses herself to document, investigate
and give
appropriate action in helping solve legal cases of the poor, the abused
and
the oppressed, and Tara Tena,
where she featured reality stories,
issues and
concerns of our young people today.
For her efforts as a journalist,
legislator, civic-minded citizen, and
advocate of family interests, Senator Legarda has received over 30
awards
and
citations. Her television program PEP Talk was the recipient of the
Catholic Mass Media Hall of Fame. The Philippine Jaycees
honored her
with
the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men award in 1992. She was also
awarded The Benigno Aquino
Fellowship in 1995. The following year, she
received the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service Award. In
the
same year, she was named Broadcaster of the Year, an award bestowed on
her
by her own peers in the Kapisanan
ng mga Broadcaster sa Pilipinas. In
recent
years, she was a recipient of the Gintong Ina and Ina ng Bayan
Outstanding
Mother Achiever Awards. She was also named as one of the Student’s Ten
Most
Admirable Filipinos in 1996.
In
2000, the world Economic Forum that holds annual meeting in Davos,
Switzerland, elected Senator Legarda as one of the
Global Leaders for
Tomorrow (GLTs) for the year 2000. Every year since its inception in
1992,
the WEF chooses
100 outstanding young leader in various fields
including
business, politics, public interest groups, media, arts and
sciences,
which
includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
A gauge of her performance in the Senate is reflected
in public
surveys. She
has consistently topped the public opinion surveys of the performance
ratings of Senators
conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) and
Pulse
Asia. In pulse Asia Survey showing the net approval ratings
of senators
during the impeachment trial, Senator Legarda emerged with the highest
rating, thus considered as among
the most credible and trusted senators
by
the public.
After the impressive performance of Loren in the recent
impeachment
trial,
several organizations have given her awards, including: Freedom and
Peace
Award (by the
People Power Coalition 2), Distinguished Legislator for
the
People Award (by the UP College of Mass Communication),
Veritas et
Fortitudo
(by the Lyceum of the Philippines), and the People’s Heroes Awards (by
the
Council
on Philippine Affairs or COPA).
In tribute for her many contributions and achievements for the
protection
and
preservation of the environment, the United Nations Environmental
Program (UNEP) elected her into its prestigious Global
500 Roll of
Honour
for the year 2001. As a new laureate, she is now a part of a global
network
of allies assisting
the UNEP in its responsibilities for the care of
our
planet. Other past laureates included Sir David Attenborourgh,
former
Norway
Prime Minister Go Harlem Brundtland, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner Paul
Crutzen, and Indian environmentalist
Anil Aggarwal.
Senator Legarda was valedictorian in grade school at Assumption Herran
and
graduated from high
school at the Assumption Convent in Makati City.
She
studied at the College of Mass Communication, University of the
Philippines,
where she graduated cum laude. After which she took up a special course
on
Journalism at the
University of California in Los Angeles, USA.
The senator is married to businessman J. Antonio Leviste, former
governor
of
Batangas province and currently a governor of the Board of Investments.
They
have two children, Lanz and Lean.
She is the daughter of Antonio
Cabrera
Legarda of San Pablo, Laguna and Manila, and the late Bessie Gella
Bautista
of Antique and Malabon. She is the granddaughter of one of the pillars
of
Philippine journalism, editor in chief
of the pre-martial law Manila
Times,
Jose P. Bautista. Senator Legarda has participated in two art exhibits
as
a
teen, and continues to do watercolor painting occasionally.
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