Loren Legarda

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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Bautista and the
surname or paternal family name is Legarda.

The Honorable

Loren Legarda

Deputy Speaker
of the House of Representatives

Incumbent

Assumed office

July 22, 2019

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano

Lord Allan Velasco

 Member of the
Philippine House of Representatives
from Antique's lone district

Incumbent

Assumed office

June 30, 2019

Preceded by Paolo Everardo Javier

Senator of the Philippines

Incumbent

Assumed office

June 30, 2022

In office

June 30, 2007 – June 30, 2019

In office

June 30, 1998 – June 30, 2004

show
Senate positions

Personal details

Born Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda

January 28, 1960 (age 62)

Malabon, Rizal, Philippines

Nationality Filipino

Political party NPC (2005–present)

 Other political Lakas–CMD (1998–2003)

affiliations Independent (2003–2005)

KNP (2004)

Genuine Opposition (2007)

Team PNoy (2012–2013)

Antonio Leviste
Spouse(s)

(m. 1989; annulled 2008)

Children 2

Residence(s) Malabon

Pandan, Antique

Alma mater University of the Philippines Diliman

National Defense College of the Philippines

Profession Journalist

Website Loren Legarda

Luntiang Pilipinas

Nickname(s) Bai A Labi (Honorary Muslim Princess) of

the Marawi Sultanate League;[1]

Tukwifi (Bright Star) of the Mountain

Province Indigenous Peoples;[1] Bai Matumpis (The

One Who Takes Care) of the unified congregation of

10 Davao indigenous people groups;[1]

Cuyong Adlaw Dulpa-an Labaw sa

Kadunggan (Shining Sun Rising in Power) of

the Suludnon Indigenous Peoples of Panay[1]

Lorna Regina "Loren" Bautista Legarda (born January 28, 1960) is a Filipina

politician, environmentalist, cultural worker, and former journalist who is currently
serving as the representative of Antique and as a House Deputy Speaker. She
previously served as a senator twice: from 1998 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2019. She is
the only female in the Philippines to top two senatorial elections: 1998 and 2007. She
also unsuccessfully ran for vice president twice: In 2004 as the running mate
of Fernando Poe Jr., and again in 2010 as the running mate of Manny Villar.
Legarda is an 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. [1] Her legislative work is focused on education, indigenous
people rights, culture, women's rights, children's rights, and the environment. Some the
notable laws she authored and co-authored include the Climate Change Act, Clean
Water Act, Renewable Energy Act, Magna Carta of Women, Anti-Domestic Violence
Act, National Cultural Heritage Act, Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health
Act of 2012, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, and the Universal
Healthcare Law. Alongside her legislative work, she has also represented the
Philippines to UNESCO multiple times. In 2018, Legarda became a Commissioner of
the newly formed international organization, Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA).
[2]
 She also chaired the Climate Vulnerable Forum, which encompasses 20 climate
vulnerable countries.
For her environmental work, Legarda has received numerous accolades; she was
awarded 2001 UNEP Laureate as declared by the United Nations Environment
Programme,[1] a 2008 Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate
Change Adaptation for Asia and the Pacific as declared by the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction,[1] a National Adaptation Plan (NAP)
Champion by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2017.
[3]
 She was declared by the United Nations as a UN Global Champion for Resilience in
2015. She was the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Dangal ng Haraya Patron of Arts
and Culture.[4] She has been named as honorary princess and member by
numerous indigenous people communities in the Philippines due to her support for
indigenous people's rights since the 1970s. She was honored as a Chevalier in France[5]
[6]
 and Cavaliere in Italy.[7]
Contents

 1Early life
 2Career in journalism
 3Political career
o 3.1Senate, first term
o 3.22004 vice presidential bid
o 3.3Senate, second term
o 3.42010 vice presidential bid
o 3.5Senate, third term
o 3.6House of Representatives, first term
o 3.72022 Senate bid
 4Organizational Affiliations
 5Accolades
 6Personal life
  7References
 8External links

Early life[edit source]

Loren Legarda was born on January 28, 1960, in Malabon as Lorna Regina Bautista
Legarda, the only daughter of Antonio Cabrera Legarda and Bessie Gella Bautista. Her
maternal grandfather was Jose P. Bautista, editor-in-chief of the pre-Martial Law
newspaper, The Manila Times,[8] while her maternal grandmother was Carmen Gella
Bautista of Pandan, Antique.[9] Legarda's maternal great-grandfather, Ariston Gella, was
a member of the Malolos Congress that crafted the Philippine Constitution of the First
Philippine Republic.[9] Her great-granduncle Vicente Gella was governor of the province
while her great-granduncle was mayor of Sibalom.[9] A brother of her grandfather,
Bartolome Gella, also served as governor of Antique. [9]
As a teenager, she appeared as a print and television model.[10] She
attended Assumption College from primary to high school,[11] where she was a grade
school valedictorian. She graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines
Diliman in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast communications and was
President of the UP Broadcast Association.[10] She pursued post-graduate courses on
special studies towards professional designation in journalism from the University of
California, Los Angeles.[12]

Career in journalism[edit source]

Legarda began a career in journalism as a reporter for RPN, during which she covered
topics including Imelda Marcos' trip to Kenya and 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, graduating at the top of the class with
gold medals for Academic Excellence and Best Thesis. [13] Later, she would move to the
reopened ABS-CBN. She became the co-anchor of the television newscast, The World
Tonight with Angelo Castro, Jr., and became the host of the current affairs series, The
Inside Story.[10]
As a journalist, Loren earned the Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines, Catholic
Mass Media Hall of Fame, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Golden Dove
Award, Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) from the Philippine Jaycees (1992), The
Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS) Award (1995), and the Benigno
Aquino Award for Journalism (1995), among more than 30 awards. [11]

Political career[edit source]

Senate, first term[edit source]
Legarda ran for the Senate in 1998 under the Lakas-NUCD-UMDP Party.[10] She was
elected with more than 15 million votes, allowing her to be the highest vote-getter in that
year's election and becoming the second woman to top a Philippine senatorial election.
After Legarda filed her candidacy as senator in late 1997, Tina Monzon-Palma who
came from rival ABC and was the anchor of The Big News, transferred to ABS-CBN in
order to replace her on The World Tonight at the same time and joining Angelo Castro,
Jr. in order to run the latter for this election. In 1999, the newscast was replaced
by Pulso: Aksyon Balita on ABS-CBN and was moved to the ABS-CBN News
Channel and until now,[when?] the newscast is still airing.
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 which
seeks to uphold and protect the basic human rights of women and their children, the
Anti-Child Labor law which limits the employment of children below 15 years old, the
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act which aims to protect victims of human trafficking, the
Ecological Solid Waste Management Law which created the National Solid Waste
Management Commission, and the Tropical Fabric Law. She also authored the Eid'ul
Fitr Holiday Law, Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003, and the Philippine Ear
Research Institute Act.
Legarda was named as one of the "Global Leaders for Tomorrow" by the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2000, and was awarded by the United
Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in Turin, Italy, for her work on the environment
in 2001.[13] Legarda played a role in the 2000–01 impeachment trial of Joseph
Estrada that sparked the Second EDSA Revolution, voting to examine the envelope
containing evidence of alleged corruption of the Estrada administration. She was later
chosen to be the Senate's Majority Floor Leader from 2001 to 2004, becoming the first
woman to hold the position.[10]
2004 vice presidential bid[edit source]
Main article: 2004 Philippine presidential election
Legarda during a 2007 Philippine Military Academy ceremony

In 2003, Legarda left Lakas–CMD (after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo broke her pledge not

to run again for president) and joined the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino coalition
of Fernando Poe, Jr. as an Independent during the 2004 elections. She lost the election
to Noli de Castro, the running mate of Arroyo, under a narrow margin of 3.9%.
On January 18, 2008, in a 21-page resolution, penned by Senior Justice Leonardo
Quisumbing, the Supreme Court of the Philippines, acting as the Presidential Electoral
Tribunal (PET), dismissed Legarda's electoral protest against de Castro. [14]
Senate, second term[edit source]
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. [10] In her second term as senator, Legarda
authored the Expanded Senior Citizens Law,[15] the Climate Change Act, Clean Air Act,
Renewable Energy Act, the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) Act, Barangay Kabuhayan Act, the Magna Carta on Women, [10] University of the
Philippines Charter of 2008, Bacolor Rehabilitation Council Act, Tourism Act of 2009,
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 2009, Food and Drug
Administration Act of 2009, and the Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act. The Climate
Change Act was lauded by the United Nations as the 'best in the world'.[16] She co-
authored the National Cultural Heritage Act. Aside from her legislative work, she also
established the Luntiang Pilipinas (Green Philippines) foundation, an organization
aimed to aid the Philippines in attaining its United Nations mandate for reforestation,
where the target was set by the UN at 2009. [10]
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",[17] 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. [18] In October 2009, the Climate
Change Act was passed.[10] She filed this bill two years ago, citing 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”. [8] She was a member of the Philippine delegation
during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.[8][17]
2010 vice presidential bid[edit source]
Legarda and her son, Leandro, during the 2010 election campaign period.
Main article: 2010 Philippine presidential election
On July 14, 2009, Legarda expressed her interest to run as president during the 2010
elections.[19] On October 23, 2009, during the launch of her humanitarian program
"Lingkod Loren in Luneta",[10] she formally declared her intention to run for vice president
in 2010 under Nationalist People's Coalition with the platform of environmentalism.
[20]
 After Francis Escudero, expected to run for president, left the NPC, [21] she decided that
it would be best to stick with the Nacionalista Party's presidential candidate, Manny
Villar, as a guest-running mate.[10]
Legarda lost her bid for the Philippine vice presidency to Jejomar Binay, placing third in
the 2010 Philippine presidential elections. As a result, she continued her term in the
Senate. In 2010, Legarda was given chairmanship for the Senate committees on
climate change, cultural communities, and foreign affairs. [22] She would later go to
the United Nations to deposit the Philippines ratification for the International Criminal
Court membership.[23] As a result of Koko Pimentel's win in his case against Juan Miguel
Zubiri, Legarda requested the Supreme Court to allow them to retrieve documents that
they submitted as evidence for her electoral protest against de Castro for the reopening
of the investigation of electoral cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections. [24][25]
Senate, third term[edit source]
Legarda was reelected during the 2013 elections, garnering the second highest number
of votes among the 12 winning senators. During her third term, she focused on much
legislative push for various cultural and environmental bills in the Senate. She also
chaired the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resource and the Senate
Committee on Finance. Legarda reportedly persuaded former Environment
Secretary Gina Lopez to accept the post she was given as she believed and knew
Lopez's strong management and implementing skills in environmental conservation.
Legarda was one of only 8 lawmakers who were in favor of Gina Lopez retaining the
environment secretary post during her confirmation hearing which ousted Lopez from
her position. She was unable to enter her vote of support or dissent on a Senate
resolution which sought to condemn the controversial burial of the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016.[26] She was among
the 14 senators who filed a resolution urging the Supreme Court to review its ouster
decision in regards to the quo warranto petition against Maria Lourdes Sereno.[27] She
spearheaded in the Senate the ratification of more than 10 international treaties.
Legarda continued her environmental work. Environmental bills she filed included the
Total Logging Ban bill which aimed to ban logging for 25 years; the International
Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance bill; a bill establishing the Department of
Fisheries, Low Carbon Economy bill, Energy Efficiency and Conservation bill, Final
Forest Limits bill, National Land Use Act of the Philippines, Expanded NIPAS Act,
People's Survival Fund Act, Water Sector Reform bill, and a bill creating the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, among others. She also led the investigation on
the environmental crisis in Boracay.[28]
She was awarded as a United Nations Global Champion for Resilience in 2015 due to
her advocacy and actions on climate change and environmentalism. In November 2017,
she led the Philippine delegation at the 23rd UN Climate Change Conference (COP23)
in Bonn, Germany. She was named the first ever National Adaptation Plan (NAP)
Champion during the event as mandated by an international treaty ratified by the
UNFCCC.[29][30] Legarda became part of a special Philippine delegation to the French
Senate to discuss about the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions
mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. [31] She was named Chevalier
(Knight) in the Ordre national de la légion d’Honneur (National Order of the French
Legion of Order) by the government of France.[6]
She also focused on the enhancement of Philippine culture and the arts. Her legislative
work included the National Writing Systems Bill, which aimed to
institutionalize baybayin and other indigenous writing systems as national writing
systems and the National Cultural Heritage Act. Legarda pushed for the creation of the
Department of Culture and the Arts.[32][33] On February 7, 2019 a bill which safeguards the
1,446 Gabaldon school heritage buildings of the country, authored by Legarda, was
enacted into law.[34] She also spearheaded the return of the Philippines to the Venice
Bienniale, the most acclaimed art exposition in the world, after 5 decades of Philippine
absence in the exhibitions.
Legarda also filed various indigenous people rights, culture, women's rights,
and children's rights bills. These included the Traditional Property Rights of Indigenous
People bill, Indigenous Community Conserved Areas Act, Magna Carta for the Poor bill,
Anti-Hazing Law of 2018, and the Anti-Discrimination Bill. Legarda backed the passage
of the SOGIE Equality Bill in the Senate.[35] She led the Philippine delegation to
the United Nations and urged tougher global actions against cybersex and child
trafficking.[36][37] She supported the Philippine Drug War of President Rodrigo Duterte, but
said that she does not support the police killings of innocent citizens. [38]
Other bills she filed included a bill to mandate the government to use the Gross
Happiness Index used by Bhutan, the Freedom of Information bill (FOI) Philippine
Innovation Bill, Solo Parent's Welfare bill, War Veterans Reform Bill, Magna Carta for
Public School Teachers, Philippine Academic Regalia Act, Domestic Workers Act, and
the Election Service Reform bill. She also authored the General Appropriations Act of
2017 and 2018. She co-authored the Philippine Mental Health Law, HIV and AIDS
Policy Act of 2018, Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, and
the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. She also sponsored the
Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary agreement between the
Philippines and Indonesia, which led to its ratification.[39]
She pursued greater public awareness and public cooperation for the National Museum
of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, Komisyon ng Wikang
Filipino, Cultural Center of the Philippines, the country's own culture and arts
commission, indigenous communities in the country, Philippines heritage conservation
and restoration, intangible cultural heritage of the country, indigenous Philippine
weaving, greater appreciation of Philippine and international art, and support
for UNESCO initiatives, including the possible nomination of the Manila-Acapulco
Galleon Trade Route to the UNESCO World Heritage List. She also supported the
restoration of megalithic churches that were destroyed or damaged by the 2013 Bohol
earthquake which affected Central Visayas. The restoration was governed by the
National Museum of the Philippines with aid from her office. A number of churches that
were affected were in the Tentative List for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On the
same year, she led the Philippine delegation group for UNESCO, and was greeted by
UNESCO Secretary-General Irina Bokova. On October 16, 2019, Legarda became a
Commissioner of the newly formed international organization, Global Commission on
Adaptation (GCA).
Legarda also initiated and pushed for her home province of Antique's hosting of the
2017 Palarong Pambansa, the national games of the Philippines. It was the first time
Antique hosted the games. The effects on the province was notable as tourists from all
over the country flocked Antique's heritages sites, including the Antique Rice Terraces
and the weaving centrums of the province.[40] She led the first ever
churchyard orchestra in her home province of Antique and the unveiling of the first ever
Language Monument in the Philippines.
House of Representatives, first term[edit source]
On October 18, Legarda announced that she will run as congresswoman of the lone
district of Antique in Western Visayas in the 2019 Philippine elections. Her
congressional run went to the court after a local politician argued against her candidacy.
[41]
 On February 6, 2019, the courts officially allowed Legarda to run for congresswoman
of Antique province.[42] Legarda was elected as the new congresswoman and
representative of the province and district of Antique after the May 2019 elections,
where she received a landslide victory against a political dynasty. She assumed the
position on July 1, 2019.[43]
2022 Senate bid[edit source]
On October 1, 2021, she filed her certificate of candidacy as senator. [44] She is running
under the Nationalist People's Coalition, and is part of the Reporma-NPC slate, MP3
Alliance slate, and the UniTeam slate.[45] [46][47] She won the elections placing 2nd with
24,264,969 votes behind Robin Padilla and was proclaimed on May 18, 2022. [