Senator Loren Legarda has not been drawing her Senate pay since filing for medical leave, and no date has been set for her return to session, Senate President Win Gatchalian said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, Gatchalian confirmed that the senator stepped away from her salary once the leave was filed. “Nung nag-file siya ng medical leave, hindi na niya tinanggap ang sweldo niya,” he said. The same arrangement, he noted, applies to detained senators and to Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is currently in hiding—none of them are drawing pay.
The Senate leader framed Legarda’s health as a matter he preferred to keep private, saying the two had been friends before her illness surfaced. “It’s a very personal issue,” he said, adding that she had confided in him about the condition. “Nasabi niya yun na meron siyang sakit na seryoso,” Gatchalian said, urging that conditions of this kind be treated with gravity.
Pressed on when she might resume her duties, Gatchalian offered no timeline. “Wala, wala akong alam,” he said.
Records from the National Bureau of Investigation place Legarda’s departure for France on August 2, covering a leave that initially ran from August 3 to 5. That window has since stretched to September 2.
The absence unfolds while the chamber juggles the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, in which the senators sit as judges, alongside its regular legislative duties and looming budget talks.
Legarda and her son, Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste, face scrutiny from the Office of the Ombudsman over P10-billion plunder and graft complaints, tied to allegations that Leviste’s renewable energy company did not deliver the solar power required under its congressional franchise. The Ombudsman reported that Leviste departed for Hong Kong near the time his mother left, having secured travel clearance valid through September 24.
On the question of the forgone salary, Gatchalian said the chamber has a mechanism for the leftover money. “Pupunta yan sa hindi nagagastos. The Senate can declare it as savings and use it for something else,” he said.
