FILIPINA POWER: Pinay Senatoriables for the Philippine Elections 2007

// May 7th, 2007

A list of the most popular women politicians and aspiring politicians at present

Men have always dominated Philippine politics, but as time goes by, Filipina politicians are slowly proving their worth and taking the reigns on the political scene. An obvious proof by that is our current president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

This coming may 14 elections, positions that are included as being contested with is half of the Senate seats. Most of the senatorial candidates are men, and only 4 candidates are women. There is no question that the most popular women politician today are the four candidates for the senate position, namely Loren Legarda, Nikki Coseteng, Sonia Roco and Tessie Aquino-Oreta.

I am dedicating this article to provide you some information on these women, a short background on their political career, and their platforms. It is up to you to pick who among all the candidates you are going to vote for come May 14 – just keep in mind that your one vote will make a big difference in our country’s future.

Loren Legarda

Amongst the four women senatorial candidates, Loren Legarda is the most famous. It is not a bolt from the blue since the lady was a former famous broadcast journalist. I mean, who wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of her in the news or in her famous show “The Inside Story”? I am not surprised that she leads once again, in almost all surveys conducted for the senatorial race in this year’s election. I will also not be surprised when these surveys will prove to be true after the counting of the ballots.

Loren’s political career started when she was elected senator under the Lakas-NUCD_UMDP Party in 1998. She acquired more than 15 million votes, making her the senator garnering the highest number of votes in that election year. In 2001, she was selected to be the Senate’s Majority Floor Leader.

During her 6-year tenure in the Senate from 1998 to 2004, Loren authored legislations advantageous to women and children, among these legislation are the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and the Anti-Domestic Violence Act. She too authored the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law and the Tropical Fabric Law.

A true environmentalist, Loren has received many awards like the United Nations Environment Program Award (UNEP) in Turin, Italy, in 2001 and is also the recipient of the Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT), awarded by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2000.

Loren’s platform prioritizes the youth, anti-drug crusade, environment, children and women’s rights.

Teresa “Tessie” “TAO” Aquino-Oreta

Tessie Aquino-Oreta was born on June 28, 1944, the youngest of the Aquino children of Tarlac, which included former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, who was assassinated in 1983. She is married to businessman, Antolin M. Oreta Jr., and they have four children.

She completed her primary school at the College of Holy Spirit (Mendiola) and finished high school at the Assumption College.

Her polical career includes representing the district of Malabon City Navotas at the House of Representatives (3 consecutive terms, from 1987-1998), and was elected as senator on 1998. She authored and co-authored 280 bills (79 of them were enacted into laws) at the lower house, proposed 101 local and national resolutions (20 were adopted).
As senator, Tessie Aquino-Oreta filed 197 Senate Bills and resolutions. She also holds the record as the first woman Assistant Majority Floor Leader in the history of the Lower House. Some of her bills that have been signed into law are the Early Childhood Care and Development Act and the Solo Parent Act.

Tessie Aquino-Oreta platform centers on education and issues concerning women and children.

Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng

A street parliamentarian and human rights activist during the Marcos years, Nikki Coseteng’s political career began when she was elected member of the House of Representatives for the Third District of Quezon City in 1987. Her next step was the Senate of the Philippines – she was elected senator in 1992, where she became the Chairperson of the Committee on Women and Family Relations and the Committee on Cultural Communities. She was then re-elected again as Senator in 1995 until 2001. During her second term as Senator, she became the Chairperson of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development and the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization.

As a public official, Nikki was known to be a convener of many conferences such as the International Association of Women in Radio and Television; the National Convention on the Prevention of Family Violence; Regional Consultations on the Prevention of Family Violence, and many others. Nikki is also a recipient of many awards and was an adopted daughter of many provinces that she visited.

Nikki Coseteng’s platform this election focuses on women’s rights

Sonia Roco

Last, but definitely not the least is Sonia Roco. As we all know, this lady is the widow of the late Senator and Presidential Candidate Raul Roco. Among the women candidate for the senatorial race, Sonia is the only one that lacks the experience as a politician. The three women I have mentioned prior to her are all senatorial re-electionist. However, this factor is not enough to make her a weak candidate.

Aside from being a devoted wife to her late husband, Sonia is also an educator and is active in educational, social, cultural, and environmental causes. She was a past president and founding member of the 20-year-old Women in Nation Building (WIN), co-founded Saint Michael’s Hospice in 1996 to help the poor and terminally ill.

Sonia Roco’s platform and advocacies centers on education.