Legarda extends medical leave anew

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Loren Legarda will be absent from the Senate floor until Sept. 2 after she notified the chamber of another extension of her medical leave, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. confirmed yesterday.

Bantug said Legarda’s office informed the Senate leadership of her upcoming absences, which will be from Aug. 24-26 and Sept. 1-2. The Senate only holds legislative session from Monday to Wednesday.

This marks the latest in a series of absences for the lawmaker this month. By Sept. 2, she would have been absent from official legislative duties for a month.

She previously filed for a formal medical leave from Aug. 3-5 and later filed an extension covering Aug. 11-12.

The recent notices from her office have not disclosed the specific nature of her medical condition or the treatment she is receiving.

Legarda’s continued absence coincides with the Senate’s ongoing impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte and a plunder probe by the Office of the Ombudsman on her alleged involvement in the solar energy dealings of her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla alleged that Legarda used her position as Senate finance chair in 2019 to help secure exclusive solar power franchises for Leviste, which purportedly resulted in multibillion-peso “ghost electricity” losses.