SEN. Loren Legarda extended her medical leave request to Aug. 17 to 19, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug confirmed on Monday.
In a statement, Bantug said Legarda’s office sent a letter Monday morning informing the Senate that she would remain on leave.
Legarda has been absent in the impeachment trial and in Senate sessions since Aug. 3 after she was reported leaving the country and headed to France on Aug. 2.
The senator filed a medical leave with the Senate secretariat first, from Aug. 3 to 5, and again, from Aug. 11 to 12.
Her absence coincides with a preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman into non-bailable plunder and graft complaints against her and her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.
Legarda is accused by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla of using her post to secure exclusive solar power franchises for Leviste that allegedly resulted in multibillion-peso “ghost electricity” losses.
The senator denied the allegations, describing them as “utterly false and baseless.” Legarda also appealed to the public to refrain from attaching political narratives to her leave or her travels.
Neither the senator nor her office disclosed the specific nature, diagnosis, or details of her illness.
