SEN. Loren Legarda is welcome to return to the Senate majority bloc, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Monday amid talks of her possible return to the coalition.
Lacson, however, said Legarda should first return to the Philippines from her medical leave in France before rejoining the majority.
“She is welcome if she wants to return to the majority, but she needs to come home first before joining the majority,” he told reporters.
Legarda has been on extended medical leave since Aug. 3, with her leave extended until Oct. 9. She was last seen at the Senate on July 29 during a plenary session.
Her spokesman, Tony La Viña, earlier said he was not ruling out the possibility of Legarda returning to the majority, noting that shifting alliances are common in the Senate’s fluid political environment.
Legarda’s possible return comes amid recent changes in Senate alliances and leadership.
The Senate leadership was reshuffled earlier this year after a faction led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano secured a majority and ousted then-Senate president Vicente Sotto III.
Cayetano was later replaced by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who became Senate president.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed a petition challenging the legality of a Senate session that installed Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore and acting Senate president.
