The Office of the Ombudsman has cast doubt on the string of medical leave extensions filed by Sen. Loren Legarda, whose latest request keeps her out of Senate proceedings through August 19.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano told a press conference on August 18 that the agency had “begun to find quite suspicious” both the senator’s recurring leave and the extended foreign trip of her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste. According to Clavano, Leviste secured travel authority spanning July 26 to September 24 covering multiple countries, while his mother remains abroad on what the official described as a third or fourth extension of leave granted for medical reasons. He said the pattern warranted attention precisely because a live case sits before his office.
Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. confirmed the newest extension after Legarda’s office notified the chamber. “Yes. Her office sent in a letter this morning. Medical leave from 17 to 19 August,” Bantug said, adding no further explanation for the absence.
The senator has been away from both regular sessions and the impeachment court since August 3, filing successive leaves that first ran August 3 to 5, then August 11 to 12, before the current stretch. The National Bureau of Investigation reported that she departed for France on August 2, the same day Leviste flew to Hong Kong on a separate flight.
At the center of the matter is a preliminary investigation into non-bailable plunder and graft complaints. Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced on July 31 that Legarda, Leviste, and former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi would face scrutiny over a solar energy venture that regulators peg at more than P10 billion in alleged losses. Remulla has tied Legarda to the case through her tenure as Senate Finance chair in 2019, the period when Leviste’s firm obtained the franchise that granted exclusive rights over solar service contracts.
Separately, the Department of Energy lodged a complaint with the Department of Justice against Leviste and five officials of Solar Para sa Bayan Corporation, as reported by GMA News. The filing accuses the company of failing to deliver electricity to remote and underserved communities as required under the franchise Congress granted through Republic Act 11357.
Legarda has rejected the accusations outright. “No public funds were involved. We are prepared to bring out the truth,” she said in a Facebook post, describing the complaints as false and baseless and urging the public not to read her travel as an admission of anything.
