ELECTION WATCH: Vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda moves on after poor Harapan feedback... thanks to PEP.ph

ELECTION WATCH: Vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda moves on
after poor Harapan feedback

Nerisa Almo

Saturday, March 27, 2010
06:55 PM

NP-NPC-LDP vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda, together with
her celebrity endorser Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo, encourages
Filipinos to participate in the global event Earth Hour tonight at
8:30 p.m.

Earth Hour is a campaign that started in Sydney, Australia in 2007.
Its aim is to spread awareness of climate change issues. For the past
three years, this global call brought different countries together in
sending a message to world leaders in the lead-up to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark,
which took place in December 2009. This year, 100 countries have
pledged their support to this event.

"Taun-taon naman, pinapatupad ito sa buong mundo na pinapatay nang
panandalian lamang ang ilaw para makatipid sa kuryente na siyang
nagpapalaganap ng pagbabago ng klima. Kaya sa Earth Hour, 8:30 ng
gabi, ang Luntiang Pilipinas at Philippine Climate Youth Movement ang
siyang magpapatupad ng kontribusyon na shut all lights," said Senator
Legarda at a press conference held this afternoon at Annabel's
Restaurant on Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

In the vice-presidential forum of ABS-CBN called Harapan last Sunday,
March 21, Senator Legarda was questioned by her colleague, Liberal
Party vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas, for being so active in
pushing environmental issues when, in fact, the Philippines is only
one percent of the cause of pollution in the world.

The lone female vice presidential candidate reiterated that it is
important to educate Filipinos about the negative effects of climate
change.

She further explained, "Kasi, maliwanag naman ho na bagamat tayo ay
one percent lang ang kontribusyon sa pagpo-pollute sa mundo, tayo
naman ang pinakanasasalanta, di ba? Naalala niyo naman ang [mga
bagyong] Ondoy at Pepeng, maski nasa middle class, mayayaman o
mahihirap ay namatayan, nabaha, inanod ang lahat [ng] pinagkakakitaan
sa Metro Manila, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Pangasinan. Ngayong panahon
ng El Niño, grabe. Galing ako sa Norte, 200,000 na pamilya ang
[apektado]. Iniinspeksyon ko ang mga taniman, maisan, talagang walang
aanihin.

"Hindi ba nila naiintindihan ang Ondoy, Pepeng, El Niño at iba pang
nangyayari ngayon ay talagang nakakabit sa bituka ang isyu na ito.
Ang nakalulungkot dito, 'yong pinakamahihirap na ang siya pang lalong
maghihirap sa panahon ng El Niño."

HARAPAN ISSUE. Regarding last weekend's Harapan VP debate, Legarda
said that many related to her disappointment when she supposedly
scored low among participating viewers in this forum.

The debate, which was aired live over Channel 2, ANC, Studio 23, and
abs-cbnNEWS.com, utilized the Wireless Audience Response System (WARS)
to get viewer feedback. Randomly-selected citizens in Metro Manila,
Naga, Cebu and Davao were given a gadget, and while watching the
debate could press different buttons to relay if he or she felt the
candidate was being truthful or not after the candidate had answered a
question.

According to the results, the senator had scored poorly.

However, Legarda said she has chosen to ignore last week's incident
and move on with her campaign rallies.

She told the media, "Alam niyo, one week ago 'yon. Ako kasi ang tao
na hindi tumitingin kung ano ang mangyayaring masama, ako'y na-set up
or whatever. Pagpaliban na lang 'yon. Marami o lahat ang hindi
talaga naniwala dahil papaano ba 'yon, ako'y ginawang kulelat, four
percent. Talagang hindi kapani-paniwala.

"Pero ayaw ko nang pahabain at maliwanag ang gusto ko para sa bayan.
Ayaw kong makipag-away sa mga bagay na walang kakuwenta-kuwenta na
hindi magbibigay ng pagkain sa mga tao. Pero ang maliwanag, maraming
hindi naniwala. Pero alam mo, hindi ko sila inaway. Wala, dahil ako,
I've moved on.

"Ang importante, I was there in good faith, maganda ang mga sagot ko.
Kung mayroong stratehiya na ginawa sila... Hindi sinabi sa amin na
merong mga live points na puwedeng maghakot ng mga tao, na puwedeng
mag-set. Hindi bale na 'yon. Wala kayong maririnig sa akin. Kung
nag-set up man o hindi, for me, may tao doon, may Diyos sa 'taas, at
may tao sa baba. 'Yan ang maghuhusga sa Mayo 10."

When asked if this was the reason why she and presidential candidate
Manny Villar had declined ABS-CBN's invitation to take part in the
Harapan presidential tandem forum supposedly this Sunday, March 28,
Senator Legarda said it was not.

"Kami ho, hindi naman talaga nag-back out," she said. "Hindi ho
talaga nag-confirm si Senator Manny Villar dahil mayroon po kaming
Bicol major event bukas sa Wowowee sa Naga City. Nandoon na sila
ngayon, e. I skipped today, mayroong Albay and Sorsogon dahil nga sa
presscon namin ni Sarah na matagal nang naka-set. E, bukas mayroong
major rally sa Bicol and Naga. Hindi natin puwedeng biguin ang mga
taga-Bicol. Hindi naman namin bino-boycott, talagang naka-schedule
lang ang Bicol namin. Pero alam ko, yung ibang presidential tandems,
di na rin pupunta."