Loren Legarda

Lorna Regina "Loren" Bautista Legarda (born January 28, 1960) is a Filipina politician, environmentalist, cultural worker, and former journalist who is currently serving as a Senator and served as the president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines from 2022 to 2024. Before entering politics, she began her career as a news reporter until becoming a news anchor. She previously served three terms in the Senate from 1998 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2019. She is the longest-serving female Senator in the history of the Senate, and the only female in the Philippines to top two senatorial elections: 1998 and 2007. Legarda was also the House Deputy Speaker during her three-year stint as the representative of Antique from 2019 to 2022.

Legarda ran for vice president in 2004 as the running mate of Fernando Poe Jr., but controversially lost to Noli de Castro, Legarda contested the result on an electoral protest where she also lost. She fell short again vying for the same position in 2010 as the running mate of Manny Villar.

Legarda is an advocate of climate change awareness and has numerous achievements in the fields of social development and human rights advocacy along with her work in journalism. Her legislative work is focused on education, indigenous people rights, culture, women's rights, children's rights, and the environment. Some the notable laws she authored and co-authored include the Climate Change Act, Clean Water Act, Renewable Energy Act, Magna Carta of Women, Anti-Domestic Violence Act, National Cultural Heritage Act, Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, and the Universal Healthcare Law. Alongside her legislative work, she has also represented the Philippines to UNESCO multiple times. In 2018, Legarda became a Commissioner of the newly formed international organization, Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA). She also chaired the Climate Vulnerable Forum, which encompasses 20 climate vulnerable countries.

For her environmental work, Legarda has received numerous accolades; she was awarded 2001 UNEP Laureate as declared by the United Nations Environment Programme, a 2008 Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia and the Pacific as declared by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Champion by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2017. She was declared by the United Nations as a UN Global Champion for Resilience in 2015. She was the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Dangal ng Haraya Patron of Arts and Culture. She has been named as honorary princess and member by numerous indigenous people communities in the Philippines due to her support for indigenous people's rights since the 1970s. She was honored as a Chevalier in France and Cavaliere in Italy.