Legarda joins UNA

Senator Loren Legarda INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines- Senator Loren Legarda has accepted the invitation to join the United Nationalist Alliance’s senatorial ticket, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Monday.

UNA is the new coalition formed between Binay’s PDP-Laban and former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

Binay said that among those who have joined the slate are Senators Gregorio Honasan, San Juan Representative JV Ejercito, Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce-Enrile Jr., former senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ernesto Maceda and Richard Gordon, Zambales Rep. Milagros “Mitos’ Magsaysay and businessman Joey de Venecia.

“I am NPC (Nationalist People’s Coalition), I have been with NPC since 2007, and I am grateful to the NPC leadership for always being supportive of me. As I run under the NPC as my party, I am thankful to Vice President Binay, Former President Estrada, and Senate President Enrile for having me as guest candidate in UNA,” she said in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

“They have always been my allies—in 2004 I ran with the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) as FPJ’s (Fernando Poe Jr.) Vice Presidential candidate and in 2007 with the United Opposition (UNO).”

Legarda also declared that she respects the partnership agreement between the NPC and the Liberal Party (LP) and said that she will continue to support the reform programs and good governance policies of the Aquino administration.

Valenzuela representative Rex Gatchalian, NPC spokesman, hailed Legarda’s high pre-election survey scores.

“She is consistently topping the pre-election surveys because the people believe in her advocacy aside from her fine performance as a member of the Senate,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“Her sterling and remarkable track record as a senator are the factors that made her as one of the top choices of other political coalitions such as the UNA,” he added.

NPC members have also expressed their support for her advocacy on environmental conservation, women and children’s rights, and protecting the interests of overseas Filipino workers and their families.

Gatchalian said they “are confident of her victory in the coming elections.”