Oh Loren… tsk, tsk

Disappointment is greatest when it concerns someone from whom we expected better. We expect little from politicians whose careers have always revolved around patronage, corruption, self-preservation and opportunism. But Loren Legarda presented a different promise. She is educated, articulate and professionally accomplished. She seemed capable of bringing intelligence and conscience to public service.

We hoped she would resist the political system’s worst practices. Her recent decision to join the bloc of China defenders, convicted plunderers, arrested murderers and purveyors of vulgarity have disappointed us deeply.

Loren represents the thinking Filipino. At least that is what her public image suggests. She speaks the language of sustainability, cultural preservation and responsible governance. She understands that public policy determines whether our people prosper or remain trapped in poverty. Precisely because she knows better is why we hold her to a higher standard.

Her academic credentials are impressive too. An elementary valedictorian at Assumption, she completed her secondary education there before graduating cum laude in broadcast communication at UP. She subsequently earned a master’s degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College, finishing at the top of her class. These achievements suggests intelligence, discipline and a commitment to defend the country’s security and sovereignty.

Her education entailed certain  obligations. UP places honor alongside excellence. National security education cultivates fidelity to the Constitution. Assumption’s philosophy emphasizes integrity, humility, simplicity, human dignity and service. It expects graduates to possess the courage to work for truth and justice. These learning institutions require doing the right thing even if it means surrendering political advantage. One fails their alma maters when   power, vanity and money becomes one’s overarching motivation.

Her family heritage adds another dimension. Her parents, Antonio Legarda and Bessie Gella Bautista, connected her to a lineage distinguished by journalism and public service. Her grandfather, Jose  Bautista, was a respected Manila Times editor. Her paternal great-grandfather, Potenciano Cabrera, served as San Pablo’s first mayor, while her extended maternal family included Antique governor Vicente Gella.

Such legacy confers an expectation of honest public service. Loren inherited examples of public responsibility from her parents and grandparents. Her obligation was to strengthen that inheritance by being a champion of good governance.

Her journalism career should have reinforced her moral foundation. Seventeen years before entering the Senate in 1998, Loren delivered the news and examined public affairs. Through “The World Tonight” and “The Inside Story,” she witnessed the consequences of corruption, injustice and institutional failure. She knows the country’s sickness. She knows who suffers when politicians abuse power and evade accountability.

Now serving her fourth Senate term, Loren’s contributions to climate policy, renewable energy, disaster preparedness and women’s protection deserve credit. Yet good legislation does not exempt her from scrutiny. The larger test of public service is whether a politician protects institutions when those institutions threaten one’s personal interests and that of family members.

Loren once appeared to understand this distinction. During Joseph Estrada’s impeachment trial, she voted to open the second envelope believed to contain evidence concerning his alleged concealed wealth. On Jan. 16, 2001, 11 senators blocked its opening against 10 who wanted the evidence examined.

Her tears became an enduring image of disgust at the obstruction of accountability. The prosecutors walked out, public anger intensified and EDSA II followed. Her tears did not singlehandedly remove Estrada, but they expressed something Filipinos desperately needed to see – a senator who understood that loyalty to country must prevail over loyalty to power.

The transformation into trapo

Last May, Loren helped install Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president and became his second-in-command. Ronald dela Rosa emerged from his  cowardly hiding to cast the deciding vote as Sara Duterte faced impeachment. Together, they put Duterte allies in charge of the Senate that would judge her.

Loren owes Filipinos an explanation for abandoning the minority and joining Alan Peter Cayetano’s bloc. Whose interests did she serve by doing so – the nation’s or her own? Did she cross over on principle or to secure political cover for her son, Rep. Leandro Leviste, who faces allegations of defrauding the government in connection with a multibillion-peso solar project? Her decision demands answers.

The subsequent “Senate siege” further disgraced the chamber and Loren herself. It appeared to be staged. Loren played a part in that “ruse.”

Loren is no greenhorn. She knew exactly whose power bloc she was fortifying. This is the bloc stained by extrajudicial killings, allegations of misuse of public funds, contempt for critics and a willingness to appease China at the expense of Philippine sovereignty. Her education and experience leave her with no excuse for failing to recognize the implications of her decision. She should have resisted. Instead, she lent them her name, her credibility and her vote.

Her prolonged absence abroad has deepened the disappointment. Loren and her son face an ombudsman investigation for alleged irregularities connected with solar projects. They deny wrongdoing. Her camp says she is receiving medical treatment in France. I don’t buy it. But the obligation to answer the ombudsman remains.

To clean the Legarda name, Loren and Leandro must return home, answer every allegation and cooperate fully. If wrongdoing is established, make reparations to the state, financial and otherwise. Restore public losses, accept lawful consequences and repair whatever damage caused. That is the honorable thing to do.

If Loren and Leandro continue to evade accountability, history will judge them as traditional politicians of the most despicable kind. The kind that ruined the country and the kind that the Filipino people detest. What a disgrace that would be for Loren’s parents, grandparents, schools and countrymen who expected more.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan