My passion has always been to serve,” thus declared Sen. Loren Legarda during an informal gathering Saturday with entertainment journalists. Legarda is on her second attempt to win the vice president post.

During her first attempt, Sen. Legarda claimed she was defrauded of her victory, and what followed was a costly protest she filed with the Electoral Tribunal.

In two successive senatorial elections, Legarda won overwhelmingly, above all the other senatorial aspirants.

If she wins the vice presidency, she said she would prefer to be appointed secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture, she said, must be given top priority by any administration. This jibes with her several advocacies, like climate change, reforestation and environment. “The adverse effect of climate change is now being felt,” Sen. Legarda stressed, “and the farmers are most affected.” She cited the plight of the farmers against El Nino, hunger, poverty and the spread of disease as everyday effects of climate change.

Legarda is the only vice presidential candidate who is a staunch environmentalist. The United Nations has given her a recognition award for her being a consistent environmentalist.

Legarda has an ongoing green Philippines campaign, to plant millions of trees nationwide. In her previous political campaigns, Legarda never thought of getting an endorser. “My accomplishments in the Senate were my strong endorsers,” she said.

However, Sarah Geronimo, the young and well-loved movie and TV star, has come into the picture of Sen. Legarda’s senatorial campaign.