She has figured in the polls as one of the top ten senators whom the public want to re-elect in 2010, but Sen. Maria Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal has opted to go all the way up and vie for the presidency instead.

It remains to be seen how she intends to catch up with her opponents this time around. In 2004, Madrigal banked on poll advertisements with popular actress Judy Ann Santos to gain leverage in the race.  

“Salamat kay Juday sa kanyang malaking tulong,” She said in her declaration to run for the presidency four months ago, on July 31. She also thanked former President Joseph Estrada for including her in the opposition senatorial slate in 2004.

Between 2004 and 2010, the political arena has changed, however, particularly for Madrigal. With the opposition more divided now than ever, Madrigal has found herself without the backing of someone as influential as Estrada.

A member of the Genuine Opposition, Madrigal will run for the 2010 elections as an independent candidate.

Enemies

In her six years in the Senate, Madrigal has filed various resolutions which sought the investigation of the following: the P24.6 billion cyber-education project with China, the Arroyo administration’s exploration of the Spratly Islands and P330-billion economic resiliency plan.  

But in one of the more recent probes she pushed for, Madrigal gained an enemy in the person of Sen. Manuel Villar, then the Senate president and her rival now in the presidential derby.

She accused Villar of using his position to insert another P200 million in the 2008 national budget for the realignment of the C-5 road extension project.

Madrigal lacked the support of her colleagues however, as majority of the senators practically cleared Villar of the ethical raps she filed against him while she was away in Netherlands.     

One of those who threw her support for Villar was Sen. Loren Legarda, who originally helped Madrigal expel him in the first place in 2008.

Incensed, Madrigal described Legarda’s acts as a form of ‘political prostitution.’

Madrigal’s acerbic tongue has put her in hot water. Villar’s ally and former Cavite representative Gilbert Remulla filed an ethics complaint against her after she accused the latter of being the "corruption king of Cavite".

Runs in the blood

Madrigal is the second richest senator. She declared P146 million in assets in her 2008 statement of assets, liabilities and networth.

She comes from the wealthy Madrigal clan in Visayas, a family who has also been a fixture in local politics.  

Her granduncle, Pedro Abad Santos, was the founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines. Her paternal grandfather was Senator Vicente Madrigal of Ligao, Albay, while her aunt, Pacita Madrigal-Gonzalez was a legislator during the Quezon and Magsaysay administrations.

Madrigal is also the granddaughter of the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos.

Senate performance

Madrigal chairs the committee on youth, women and family relations, where she successfully lobbied for the passage of the Magna Carta for Women and the Anti-Child Pornography Law.

She voted against the passage of the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) bill, the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement and the Anti-terrorism bill.

In November, Madrigal came back from the Netherlands with a joint statement from National Democratic Front of the Philippines chairperson Luis Jalandoni calling for the resumption of the peace talks between the NDFP and the government.

Before her tiff with Villar, Madrigal was remembered for being dispersed with water cannons by firemen in a prayer rally, along with Arroyo’s erstwhile vice president Teofisto Guingona and others in 2005.