Understanding Loren

The other week, I had a long conversation with Loren Legarda. She was confident her ratings were steadily moving. In the end, according to her, she expects to win. Loren, however, expressed her misgivings about the campaign in terms of the personal attacks that have been hurled against her and her husband. She continues to claim that she and Noli de Castro are good friends. The three of us are old friends from the broadcast industry. She hopes the campaign would not become ugly as we get closer to May 10. Anyway, I have known Loren for a long time. She was only 21 when I hired her to be our account executive at a joint-venture advertising firm that I formed with Charlie Ty of Ajinomoto-Hitachi. When I look back, I could already see the potential that Loren had. She really had what it took to go up in life. She hit the ground running when she joined our firm primarily because she was a fast learner. She was extremely intelligent and a go-getter not necessarily for herself but for the company. At such a young age, her great sense of duty and dedication to her job enabled her to contribute a lot in growing the business. More important to me, she was an excellent communicator and did it with such grace and poise. At that time, I already thought to myself this young lady was going to be successful in life.

When she joined the news team at RPN 9, our news manager wasn’t too keen on keeping her on the main newscast but I pushed hard for her to be the newscaster for the late night news. That probably propelled her into becoming a successful broadcast journalist. And contrary to what most people think, she wasn’t just a "newsreader". She was also good at doing "stand-uppers". In her last ABS-CBN show The Inside Story, she was a go-getter in looking for stories. The decision for her to join the KNP as FPJ’s running mate made her appear opportunistic to some people. But personally I felt, like many of us, that it was a higher challenge and as one mutual friend said, "She should seize the moment before the moment seizes her." For a first-term senator in the 11th Congress, Loren was very active. She was the principal sponsor and author of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003). She played a key role in the passage of the Philippine Clean Air Act (RA 8479), which will ultimately save lives in this country. I certainly hope that the Clean Air Act will be implemented strictly soon because we’re all suffocating. At the end of the day, we won’t have much of a Philippines to speak of if we all suffocate to death.

Loren really has a strong drive to move up in life and the challenges prepared her to do so. She had a strong capacity to lead and to blaze new trails. There is no question that she has really achieved a lot at her age. I won’t mention her age because it is not done in polite society. But whatever it is, hers is a life marked by accomplishments that her peers will find hard to match.

Talking about her bitter or better half Tony Leviste, contrary to what people say, he absolutely has no political influence over her. It is also by design that we don’t see much of him today. I know for a fact that Tony really doesn’t have much influence over Loren even if people say that he has the capacity to make bulong in the bedroom. From first-hand experience, I remember when our firm in Washington asked us to help lobby for the Senate’s approval of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in 1999. One of the main objectives was to convince Loren She had already been identified as one of those who would oppose the VFA. In spite of the many meetings she had with the then US ambassador, we knew it was going to be difficult. So we tried to go through the backdoor and talked to Tony Leviste but it had no effect whatsoever. His attempts hardened her position even more. As a matter of fact, she became so adamant, in the end she voted against the VFA. Later on I found out Tony Leviste cried out of frustration. This is a clear example of Loren’s character, strong conviction and independent mind. But, some people continue to malign her as being "overly ambitious". In my opinion, she is a person who isn’t ambitious for herself but ambitious for the things she believes in. When she focuses on something, she puts her drive and determination to see it through the end. She has also absolutely kept her nose clean. But she has had her share of difficult political decisions.

Be that as it may, I think that one of the qualities that is beginning to emerge is her willingness for self-sacrifice. Loren told me the other day that she has been actually told by FPJ countless times that she was prepared to slide down herself if Ping Lacson decides to become FPJ’s vice presidential running mate. But I think that the most telling signal of Loren’s character is when she said that no matter what happens, by some misfortune she doesn’t make it to being vice president, she vowed to do her part in helping the country. Loren said that she will go on with her environmental advocacy such as the Libro ni Loren Foundation’s book donations. She claims she has absolutely no intention to stop the "ambitions" she has for this country. I can believe that.

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The other day, I attended the Employers Confederation of the Philippines’ (ECOP) 25th National Conference at the Westin Philippine Plaza where PGMA was the guest speaker. Bobby Claudio, the Philippine Retailers Association’s Vice-Chair for External Affairs, who was seated beside me commented that GMA was so different that day compared to a couple of months ago. More and more, he observed that she was radiating with a lot of confidence and blooming with the air of victory.

After her speech, a select group of businessmen including myself were invited by ECOP Chairman Donald Dee to a private dialogue with the President. To my surprise as we were entering the function room, Francis Chua, who was a board trustee of our group Philippines, Inc., was at the door preventing people from coming in. He explained that he was just trying to control the number of people going inside the room. I didn’t realize Mr. Francis Chua has now taken the job as "chief security officer" of the President, or is he applying for the job?

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