A blank frame now stands where Sen. Loren Legarda’s portrait once hung on the Wall of Empowered Women at Assumption College San Lorenzo — a visible sign of growing discontent from within the institution that once counted her among its celebrated alumnae.
The Assumption Student Council, signing on behalf of the school years 2025–2026 and 2026–2027, published a statement on Friday night endorsing a petition for the senator’s permanent removal from the wall. The council’s position centers on Legarda’s decision to vote for Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate President earlier this week.
According to the council, the leadership shift in the Senate came as the chamber was preparing to receive the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, who faces charges of grave misuse of public funds and betrayal of public trust. “Its timing raised serious concerns that the move was politically engineered to delay or influence the proceedings,” the statement read.
The council noted that Legarda cast her vote for Cayetano after Sen. Vicente Sotto III had publicly committed that the impeachment trial would convene immediately upon receipt of the Articles and be decided strictly on the merits of the case.
“While her past contributions are acknowledged, her recent political actions no longer reflect the values that Assumption upholds,” the council said.
The statement framed the issue in terms of institutional responsibility and the standards expected of the school’s graduates. “No public office grants immunity from the standards of ethical conduct,” the council said, adding that even procedural actions that enable impunity or obstruct justice “diminishes public trust and compromises the dignity of institutions that serve the Filipino people.”
The council called on Legarda to account for her vote and chart a different course. “She is encouraged to clarify her actions, correct her course, and demonstrate renewed commitment to accountability and justice,” it said.
Recognition on the wall, the council made clear, is not permanent. “A place on this wall is an honor reserved for women who continuously embody Assumption’s ideals in action and character, and only those who do so will ever belong there,” the statement said.
