Fil-Am magnate pitches for Roxas, Robredo
Fil-Am magnate pitches for Roxas, Robredo
Loida Nicolas Lewis, the Filipino American business magnate, lawyer and advocate for good governance in the Philippines, came to Toronto with two speaking engagements cramped in one day on April 9.
The flyer and press release announcing her events had the title of her talks, “How the Values of Anti-Corruption Can Firmly Take Root in Filipino Society”.
It turned out she was in town to campaign for presidential and vice presidential candidates of the ruling Liberal Party, Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo, respectively.
When asked in the Toronto forum why she was campaigning for the LP candidates when her talk was supposed to be about something else, she said she told the organizers to use that title because if people knew her real intentions, those who were for other candidates would not attend her talks.
Well wishers, organizers and members of the audience join Loida Nicolas Lewis in a photo. Photos: HG
One of the most recognizable Fil-American names in the U.S., Lewis is the Chair of TLC Beatrice LLC, which used to be Beatrice International, the company her late husband, Reginald Lewis, African American Wall St. financier and lawyer, acquired in 1987 for $985 million in a leveraged buyout. Wikipedia describes TLC Beatrice International as a “$2 billion multinational food company with operations all across Europe.”
Lewis’s pitch for Roxas is mainly about the need to continue the work done by the current Aquino administration in the areas of anti-corruption and good governance.
She vowed for the integrity and competence of Roxas and Robredo and defended the record of President Benigno Aquino III.
After breezing through a quick narration of events from the martial law period to the current Aquino government, she highlighted her long list of achievements by Aquino and emphasized the battle for economic growth, the fight against corruption and poverty, and for good governance would take some time and the need now is continuity rather than change of direction.
The audience of about 100 at the St. Bonaventure Parish Centre in North York, Ontario, engaged her with questions. The other venue was St. Francis Xavier Church in Mississauga where the earlier afternoon session was held.
Lewis is Chairperson of US Pinoys for Good Governance and Global Filipino Diaspora Council.
In the Toronto forum, she praised the performance of Aquino’s Cabinet members and the prosecution of high officials for corruption, including the impeachment of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and the arrest and detention of three opposition Senators on pork barrel-related charges. She spoke for more than an hour and answered questionsfor almost another hour. –HG
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