Legarda to bare beauty and political secrets in a book

Senator Loren Legarda INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Loren Legarda is now ready to reveal her secrets – from staying beautiful at the age of 52 to her failures and triumphs in politics – in a book that she plans to write after the May 2013 elections.

“Regardless of the result of the election, I will write a book –how to win, how to lose an election and how to survive politics,” Legarda told reporters on Tuesday.

“I will put there everything. From my failing to my triumphs. From beauty tips to the changing political strategies…” she said.

It would be Legarda’s second and last term in the Senate if she gets elected in the May 2013 elections.

She topped the senatorial race in 1998 and 2007 but lost in the vice presidential race in 2004 and 2010.

While she contested her defeat to then Vice President Noli de Castro in 2004, Legarda accepted with humility her defeat in 2010 to incumbent Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Noong 2004 talagang nadaya naman kami ni FPJ (FPJ and I were really cheated in 2004,” she said, referring to her runningmate, the late Fernando Poe Jr.

“Noong 2010 talagang natalo naman ako dun. Tanggap ko yun. Ang buhay naman ay hindi pwedeng puro ka na lang panalo. Kung puro ka na lang panalo hindi ka na tao so tanggap ko yun (I really lost in 2010. I accept that. You don’t always win in life. If you always win, you are no longer human so I accept that). It makes me tougher,” she said.

Legarda admitted that she has made a lot of mistakes in the past and suffered from those slip-ups. But because of these, she has become a better person and tolerant of others’ mistakes.

“I understand those people committing mistakes and taking a fall like me so I’ve become a better person. That’s all for the good. God won’t give you problems you cannot solve,” she said.