Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that he maintained the belief that Senator Loren Legarda and Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste would return to the country after a reported medical trip overseas.

Remulla stressed that it would be in the best interest of Legarda and Leviste to make their way back to the Philippines, claiming that they would be placed in handcuffs otherwise.

“You think they will really escape? I don’t think they will; they will return. We believe they will,” he said during a press conference.

The Ombudsman’s sentiments stemmed from an announcement from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that the mother and son had traveled to Hong Kong and were reportedly en route to France.

On Senate leave

In a related interview, Senator Erwin Tulfo told reporters that Legarda had filed for medical leave at the Senate, explaining that this was the reason for her absence in recent impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Tulfo noted that her fellow senator did not disclose particular details about the trip, merely highlighting that it was a “medical need.”

“Hopefully she will return. She did not mention what kind of medical case. It was only stated that it was a medical need,” the senator said.

Legarda urged the public on Friday to refrain from making “unwarranted conclusions” concerning her reported trip abroad, which comes in the face of the Ombudsman’s preliminary investigation into possible plunder and graft charges against her and her son, Leandro, over solar energy contracts.

Legarda said her overseas trip was solely for medical reasons, and her leave was filed in “accordance with Senate rules.”

Thus, the public, she stressed, should not link it to the “recent false and baseless allegations, which undeservedly besmirch a reputation that I have built over decades of public service.”

Senate secretary Renato Bantug Jr. confirmed to reporters Friday that the lawmaker’s chief-of-staff furnished his office a copy of Legarda’s letter informing him of her three-day medical leave from 3 to 5 August.

On 31 July, Remulla announced that it was set to file cases against Legarda, Leviste and former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi concerning alleged irregularities in the procurement of government contracts for solar power systems.

The Ombudsman noted that the alleged offenses the solons allegedly committed constituted plunder and graft amounting to P10 billion.

The NBI said both left the country for Hong Kong before the bureau served a subpoena in its ongoing fact-finding investigation.