Senator Loren Legarda tries to do an Igorot dance during a visit to a conference organized by Cordillera women leaders last year. Inviting Loren is a good move by said women leaders because the Senator may well become the next President of the country. She continues to perform well in presidential polls conducted by survey outfits. However, a lot of things can happen between now and 2010 so she should not count the eggs before they’re laid.
Will she make a good President? Who knows? She doesn’t strike me as someone who could change this country. Her presidency might feature people different from the current ones but it will be the politics of “same old, same old”. This is true for other politicians who have presidential ambitions, i.e., Senator Manuel Roxas II, Senate President Manny Villar, and Vice President Noli de Castro.
By the way, the group which invited Senator Legarda reportedly adopted her and named her “Tokwifi” which means “bright star” in Finontok. What do you think of that? Personally, I hope we stop using our native names/culture/etc as currency to pander to politicians. But that’s just me :-)
INFO/PHOTO SOURCE: senate.gov.ph
I don’t know if we’re using our culture to pander to the politicians so much as politicians are also pandering to the culture. Politicians need votes, after all, right? :D But anyway, she doesn’t look bad in tribal dress. ;)
i do think adopting and naming her may work to the group’s advantage by having loren have another level of public accountability not only with the filipino people in general but specifically to the group who has sincerely adopted and named her.
then again, who can tell. politicians have this strange ability to be shameless to their constituents after getting elected.
Legarda has been involved in too much politics..
Thats a good name anyway… it sounds bahasa-indonesian to me though.. well it depends on how you pronounce the “wifi” hehe..
She can be anything but most of all, she seems still associated with the 1,000 cellphones. Wonder what’s the ending on that?
Wil,i agree with what you said.. just like GMA isnt it? pagmalapit na ang election dadalaw sa MP….gamitin nya yung dating yaya nya to tell the people she was once an Igorot… o di va? additional ganda points adi kaiman! men ibotos tetewa d iinin-a…
I used to like her but after what she has done (joining Erap’s group), I hated her till now… i’m starting to see how Korina Sanchez will be when Mar Roxas gets to sit up there…oopps, non sequitur ba? hihihi
ew…loren legarda, puro platitudes lang yang bruhang iyan….
Tokwifi?! Siya ngen… Hope she deserves being called a star. Maybe if she turns out worst than GMA, we could call her ‘lomeng’ ehehehehe…
I liked the head/forehead band though :)
wen ya…that name…how i wish officials in government, institutions, schools, churches barangays etc. etc. stop this practice of naming “big shots” as “adopted daughters or sons of…” and giving them our precious indigenous names or terms. It cheapens the whole gamut of culture that we cherish (blood sweat and tears of our forebears included). More often than not, such “adoption and naming” is with the end in view of currying favor from such “bigshots” which ironically are favors derived from our very own taxes! “prito sa sariling mantika” ay kanan si tagalog.damn this cruel cycle of politicking! fear that day when the anitos and deities of our rivers, fields, forests and the skies will frown upon us for this unbridled demeaning of our culture. sana silang corrupted politicians lang, hindi lahat! Ay ay salidummay!
Hi Wil,
Sorry I should have cited more examples. Maybe I’ll do another post to clarify. Pero andami na kasing binibigyan ng Igorot names kuno. I think they do it to practically every national politician who visits the boondocks. So in that regard they are using the culture as a currency. You are right though that the politician is also pandering to us so it is a two way street. Thanks :-)
Hi Arcibald,
That’s a good point. I believe though that this “Let’s give them an Igorot name” practice has become all too common that it has become cheap. I’m not even sure if these politicians really value it hehe. Thanks :-)
Hi Edwin,
Yup Legarda is a “fresh” politician who appears to have become a part of the system.
Hmm, I wonder if tokwifi means anything in Bahasa. Thanks :-)
Hi Trublue,
I forgot all about those cell phones until you reminded me of it hehe. I think its been forgotten. Alam mo naman tayo, we have short memories. Thanks.
Hi Igorotak,
Oo nga. I wonder who the yaya is. Maybe we should find her and interview her ano? Thanks.
Hi Jane,
She’s like Gloria in that she would do anything (even joining Erap) in order to win. I don’t think I’ll vote for her. I think I belong to the NATO group, i.e., none of the above. Thanks
Hi Nashman,
Sinabi mo pa :-) Thanks.
Hi Layad,
Do you mean “lomeng” like we mean it in our place, i.e.,pig pen. Hehe, that might prove to be an apt name. Thanks.
Hi Anonymous,
Well said, my friend, well said. This is what I should have written above because I didn’t elaborate on it enough. Thanks :-)