The Trial of Loren Legarda

A deceptively casual remark, its implications not initially absorbed, has gravely threatened Senator Loren Legarda’s charmed political life. One upright but ham-fisted spy chief, a murky star witness and one thousand smuggled cellphones are the bitter ingredients of a recipe that has struck her sensational and once scandal-free senatorial career with a bad case of food poisoning. It is said that doing what’s right is no guarantee against misfortune. In Senator Legarda’s case, her impassioned version of the truth has left much of the nation in a quandary.

For two decades, Legarda’s famously expressive eyes illuminated our television sets. Shows such as The World Tonight, PEP Talk and The Inside Story gave us a glimpse of the diligence–and obvious intelligence–of one of broadcast journalism’s most recognizable faces. Her programs were critically acclaimed; PEP Talk eventually entered the Catholic Mass Media Hall of Fame. In 1996, she was named Broadcaster of the Year, an award bestowed on her by her own peers in the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas.

In the middle of it all (while on the family way with her second child), she obtained a master’s degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines. She was the youngest in the class, which she topped. According to longstanding friends, there was never really any doubt that the single-minded Assumption Herran Grade School valedictorian and University of the Philippines Mass Communication cum laude graduate was destined for success.

In 1998, Legarda became the youngest woman ever elected to the Senate. She garnered an astonishing 15 million votes, easily topping the elections. Her surprising popularity took many pundits by surprise, and they were quick to dismiss her victory as another example of the electorate’s immaturity. She won because of her undeniable beauty, they said, offering the defeat of Rey Langit, the also popular but vaguely sinister-looking broadcaster, as proof.

The chong sam’d neophyte did not exhibit any timidity once in office, contributing to the enactment of such laudable legislation as the Philippine Clean Air Act and Integrated Solid Waste Management Act. In 1999, Senator Legarda was one of the so-called "Magnificent Five" who voted against the controversial RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (vfa) despite intense public pressure for its ratification. She was also instrumental in the release of General Victor Obillo and, more recently, Major Noel Buan, both held captives by communist rebels. Her virtuoso handling of these events proved she was now a major political force, adroit at conveying her convictions with the media savvy expected from a 20-year veteran of the business. There were murmurs of presidential material.

"Honestly, I don’t aspire for higher office," she says solemnly. "I am pictured to be an ambitious and driven woman. I think that is untrue. What is true is that I am a hard worker. I’m a very industrious and diligent public servant. The people who are close to me know that I work myself to the bone. Like now, as the first woman Majority Leader, I’m the first one in and perhaps the last one out, together with the Senate President. Maybe because of that kind of work ethic, I’m perceived to be ambitious."

Indisputably, Legarda’s apotheosis occurred during the impeachment trial of Joseph Estrada. The first signs emerged from her incisive questioning of witnesses trotted in by the prosecution. While other senators were encumbered by a vexing compulsion to obfuscate matters with legalese, Legarda would often cut to the heart of the issue. Of one female witness she asked why it is that she feared for her life. It was a simple question, one laden with much common sense and compassion–and it exposed the other senators’ churlishness. "There were heated discussions and debates (behind closed doors). At the time, I must admit that I was bothered by it. I was surprised, but then everyone was edgy from lack of sleep, tension and the hard work," she recounts.

Oddly enough, it was the sight of Legarda breaking down in tears after the infamous "No" vote that has enamored her most to the public, encapsulating her character in a way no privilege speech could. It did not hurt that the poignant display of vulnerability contrasted so piously with Senator Tessie Oreta’s gruesome victory dance.

"That was my husband’s birthday–January 16. I could not join him for the family dinner that they had at home because of the extended trial that evening. I cried out of frustration, out of desperation, out of apprehension about what would happen if the envelope was not opened. The wrath of the people would be on the Senate. I had pictures in my mind of what might transpire in the streets. I was also very moved by the resignation of then Senate President Pimentel. I thought the ‘No’ vote would probably lead to violence but prayed it would not. It was all really my pent- up emotions and feelings that I was trying to hold for the past several weeks," she says.

"I already had an inkling that the vote would come out the way it did because–I just knew. I just felt I knew how each and everyone would vote. It may be difficult for the layman to understand, but I respected them for that. I cannot force my views on my colleagues. They each have a strong mind of their own. They cannot expect us to dislike our peers for what they strongly believe in," says Legarda, demonstrating an almost superhuman forbearance of the Accursed 11.

As the Twelfth Congress opened last June 30, 2001, Senator Legarda emerged as the top bill-filer with a total of 212 bills and 18 resolutions. Soon after, when the First Regular Session of the 12th Congress commenced, Legarda became Senate Majority Leader–things were rolling along smoothly. And then the bombshell.

Nearly two months ago, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (isafp) head Victor Corpuz requested an audience. They met at the Manila Polo Club, where Corpuz enlisted her help in the probe of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

"I asked him in what capacity can I help. I told him if there is an investigation in the Senate, I would participate, but I cannot help in the investigation because that’s an isapf or nbi job," said Legarda. As an aside, Corpuz informed Legarda that chief witness Angelo Mawanay had implicated her in the purchase of 1,000 Nokia 3210’s allegedly owned by Lacson for the price of P8.9 million. "What!" Legarda exclaimed. Temporarily disconcerted, she filed it away as a bad joke.

"I forgot about it until the mistaken identity of Kim Wong and the staff member of Sen. Barbers a month later. I discussed it with my husband who advised me against (bringing up the issue). I discussed it with Sen. Flavier (her closest friend in the Senate) who also said maybe I should not. I prayed hard, which I always do when my personal convictions contradict those of close, well-meaning friends. I prayed for discernment–in my 41 years, I think that is the one gift that God has given me. I decided in the first committee hearing to confront the issue point blank," she says.

"If I were the typical politician who only thought about her personal interest, would it not have been more convenient for me to sweep it under the rug or to let sleeping dogs lie? Those close to me from grade school know that I’ve always been bullheaded, fighting for what is right. When I became more emotional than what I usually am last hearing, it was because my honor and integrity were being viciously attacked. People say, ‘But she’s a senator; she’s not a normal person. She should not be angry.’ Senators are but human as well. While I did not shout or say any cuss words, I was emphatic. And I’m really basically a passionate person. I’ve never been stoic or an ice queen. Truth crushed to earth will rise again!"

The public is perplexed. There are whispers Mawanay was overheard admitting to Legarda after an executive session that he had never met her before the hearings; his lawyer vehemently denies a looming retraction. A credibility battle between Legarda and Mawanay is a no-contest–the Senator wins handily. But it is excruciatingly painful for many to admit that Mawanay is lying. We live in a country where our cellphones are snatched at gunpoint, where it seems everyone knows at least one person trapped in a shabu-induced hell, where our defenders are our tormentors, where having the wrong-shaped eyes imperils your very life. We ache for the day ring leaders–including perhaps the biggest fish of them all–are tossed into filthy, overcrowded and rodent-infested cells; then maybe a trickle-down effect will slowly hose down the general criminality that parches our land. A discredited Mawanay sweeps us further away from this aspiration.

"What can I do?" asks Legarda plaintively. "If I kept it a secret, fine, I would have saved his credibility. But would I be telling the truth? Would I be fair to my sworn oath? Could I sleep at night if I did not expose it to save my skin, to protect my name so as not to be criticized by media? I’m not that sort of a person. I’ve always been transparent."

In her August 20 privilege speech, Sen. Loren Legarda, her intense eyes blazing, denounced the attack on her honor. She commendably ended with the words: "Mr. President, I hereby reiterate my commitment to the task of the committees to investigate the rise of criminality, of kidnappings for ransom, of the growing drug menace, of money laundering and the emergence of narco-politics in the Philippines. Let us, therefore, promptly proceed with our inquiry into the serious allegations that threaten our national security and the future of our country."

Yes, let us proceed–perhaps, ultimately, it doesn’t matter who’s lying anyway. As Nietzsche wrote, "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies." Senator Loren Legarda has decided to transfer the venue of her complaint against Mawanay to the courts. In a Senate unloved by an exasperated nation for consistently missing the point, it is heroic enough that, in spite of her personal ordeal, Legarda heeds the clamor to probe deeper into the ghastly claims against one of her own. This conviction, if shared by her fellow senators, may hopefully become truth’s able cohort.