A Senate clarification on who can vote in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte could keep the door open for Sen. Loren Legarda, but her camp has no timetable for when she will fly home from France, where she is receiving medical treatment.
The impeachment court amended its threshold ruling on Wednesday. The two-thirds vote needed to convict will no longer be pegged at a fixed 16 votes. It will instead be computed from the number of senators who are legally and factually able to take part when the vote is held.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo later told reporters that the change did not lower the two-thirds requirement. He explained that any senator who comes back and is physically present on voting day may cast a vote, even if that senator missed some or all of the hearings.
“So is Loren. When Senator Loren gets better, then she may vote,” Tulfo said.
Lawyer Tony La Viña, Legarda’s spokesperson, first told the Inquirer on Thursday that he understood the senator could no longer vote because she had not taken part in the trial. When informed of Tulfo’s remarks, he said he could not tell which reading would prevail. He added that Legarda has been following the proceedings, particularly the chamber’s handling of the conviction threshold.
La Viña could not say whether she would be back in time. He pointed out that the defense has not yet presented its case and estimated that the trial could run for about 30 more days, which would put the vote in November or December.
Legarda is being treated for a serious lung illness that her lawyer said tends to worsen under stress. La Viña declined to give specifics, saying the information is privileged, but suggested it could be an autoimmune condition the senator has had for years.
“When the treatment is done, that’s when she will return. As far as I know, I don’t know if there’s a specific date,” he said.
“But she’s raring to come back. She wants to return, right? As soon as possible,” La Viña added. He said her eagerness to return has less to do with the impeachment than with the causes she champions.
The senator left the country on August 2, a few days after the Office of the Ombudsman announced a preliminary investigation into her and her son, Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste, over P10 billion worth of allegedly “ghost” solar power projects. She has filed six medical leaves so far, the latest extending her absence to October 9.
La Viña said Legarda’s lawyers have submitted counter-affidavits to the Ombudsman. The complainant has since replied, though he said he has not seen that filing. Mother and son may still submit another response before the case is submitted for resolution, a process La Viña estimated could take 30 to 60 days. If the complaint moves forward, he said, whether Legarda comes home will depend on where she is in her treatment at that point.
Legarda, a member of the Senate minority, does not share the view of Sens. Alan and Pia Cayetano that cases filed against some senator-judges may be a way of pressuring them, according to her spokesperson.
“I asked her about that, and she said that she does not see it that way. She doesn’t see it that way. This is not about the impeachment,” La Viña said.
He traced the complaint instead to Leviste’s anti-corruption push in the House of Representatives, saying the congressman’s troubles began after he raised issues involving contractors and fellow legislators.
“Because he obviously ruffled feathers at the House,” La Viña said.
He also rejected claims that Legarda’s prolonged stay abroad is an attempt to dodge the allegations, noting that no arrest warrant has been issued against her.
“There’s no flight here. So there’s no evasion,” he said. “She’s not running away from anything.”
La Viña maintained that the senator has no involvement in her son’s solar business.
