Loida Nicolas-Lewis is the so-called billionaire critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and the person at the center of the Philippines’ LeniLeaks scandal of January 2017.
She has been accused of using her wealth to mobilize support to remove the democratically elected Duterte and have him be replaced with her favorite, the Vice President Leni Robredo.
Loida Nicolas was born in the Philippines, where she received a law degree. She then migrated to the United States after her marriage to the American entrepreneur Reginald Lewis, with whom she acquired enormous financial assets.
Despite her public statements to foreign media that she represents the voice of OFs (Overseas Filipinos), the majority of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) are in fact supporters of Duterte who were crucial in getting him elected president — and they have remained steadfast. In fact, it is OFWs who are most vociferous in shutting down her alleged attempts to oust Duterte.
Among the other activities associated with Loida Lewis:
– attempting to block Teddy Locsin’s appointment to become UN ambassador
– trying to block the Philippines’ hosting of the Miss Universe pageant only after a year that Pia won the crown
– forwarding an email from a stock broker with the memorable line, “It doesn’t have to be true; just needs to look like it.”
The #LeniLeaks scandal is also known as #LoidaLeaks.
No mainstream news outlet — not Rappler, not the Inquirer, not ABS-CBN — has bothered to do the public service of posting the entire LeniLeaks conversation thread in order to let their audience decide; they have merely provided a summary of the content and have downplayed the importance of the so-called leaks.
