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The Vice Presidentiables

The next Philippine elections are seven months away yet surveys of presidentiables, declarations of candidacy (or non-candidacy) and slimy exchanges of accusations already bombard the public. Whether we like it or not, the election fever is intensifying and it is best to be prepared rather than be manipulated by unscrupulous media spins and political maneuvers. Thus, Election Watch will feature articles related to the political circus called elections. This week, we are posting brief sketches of the survey topnotchers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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