FOR THE NEXT, six years, Legarda will mostly be in the thick of the all-too-real wheeling-and-dealing of Philippine politics instead of the make-believe world of television.

While she may not be in the league of revered statesman Jovito Salonga, who was numero uno in the 1987 senatorial race, Legarda is expected to perform better than the likes of ex-variety show host Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III, who placed first in 1992, as well as talisman-wielding actor Ramon Revilla, who reportedly spends his session hours doodling on sheets of paper. No matter what she does in the future, though, Legarda the senator is proof that the trend Cronkite had warned against has already started. Asked once whether he would run for president, Cronkite, considered at one time the most trusted man in the United States, replied that he feared the trust the public had in him would disappear if he did so.