Eyeing Senate comeback, Loren Legarda first to file COC

MANILA, Philippines — Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda (Antique), who is eyeing a return to the Senate, is the first to file her candidacy before the Commission on Elections on Friday as the poll body opens submissions for certificates of candidacy.

“I believe that with my vast experience as a former majority leader, as a senator for three terms, I’ve been able to craft the laws that are helping our people right now and there is much more that I can give our people especially during this pandemic,” Legarda said in a speech after filing her COC.

Legarda harped on her previous experience as a three-term senator from 1998, flaunting  measures that she helped craft like the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the Philippine Employment Service Office law and the free college education law.

“Based on my experience and my knowledge for three terms in the Senate, I believe that I can do much in helping our country, our leaders, our nation and our people in this pandemic recovery,” she said.

Prior to becoming a House deputy speaker, Legarda had chaired the finance, foreign relations, economic affairs, environment and climate change committees in the Senate.

The next senatorial aspirant to file their candidacy was former Eastern Samar Gov. Lutgardo Barbo, who is running under the faction of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan controlled by presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Barbo is a human rights lawyer who was one of the original claimants in the Marcos estate case in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Souce: The Philippine Star

by Xave Gregorio

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/10/01/2131060/eyeing-senate-comeback-loren-legarda-first-file-coc