A British-Filipina originally from Sampaloc, Manila is running for a seat in Britain’s parliament, the first Filipino to do so.
Carmen Legarda may also become the first ever Filipina member of parliament in the UK if she wins in the June 8 elections.
Legarda is representing The Green Party of England and Wales. The left-wing party’s platform are environmentalism, animal rights, LGBT rights, national living wages and democratic participation.
A poll victory will make Legard the representative of the Hendon Constituency in the London Borough of Barnet.
Legarda’s mother, Carmita Fernandez Legarda, was the first Filipina to graduate from UK’s Oxford University. Her father was actor Juan Antonio “Tony” Carrion, star of the “American Ninja” and “Jose Rizal” movies. She has three siblings, including Atty. Katrina Legarda, who is a well-known lawyer, a respected law professor and advocate for women and children’s rights in the Philippines.
Her parents migrated to Oxford but Legarda finished her high school and college in the Philippines. She took up psychology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and Medicine at University of the East (Ramon Magsaysay).
