The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday said it has grown “suspicious” of the continued overseas travel of Sen. Loren Legarda and Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste amid an ongoing investigation into plunder and graft allegations against the two lawmakers.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the anti-graft body received information that Legarda and Leviste had sought lengthy travel authorities.

“Well, for Leandro Leviste we were able to obtain travel authority wherein he asked for two months leave from July 26 to September 24, he listed several countries he would want to, where he intended to visit,” Clavano said during a press conference.

“And on the other hand, Senator Loren Legarda is on her I believe third or fourth extension of her travel authority for medical reasons,” he added.

Clavano said the Ombudsman found the lawmakers’ continued travel peculiar as they have yet to fully address the allegations against them.

“So to us of course we want to err on the cautious side of things. We need to flag it because they have an ongoing case here at the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said.

Possible asylum

Asked whether Legarda and Leviste could follow the route taken by former congressman Zaldy Co and seek political asylum, Clavano said they would have to claim that they were being politically persecuted.

His remarks came amid information that Legarda and Leviste were reportedly in France.

“That’s the only reason that Legarda and Leviste have there in France if they want to seek asylum. However, everybody sees the facts, everybody understands the problem when it comes to ghost electricity,” he said.

“They garnered a virtual monopoly of the allocated amount of megawatts allowed to be farmed through the solar farm, and yet they did nothing…the Filipino public have felt the effects of the actions that they did,” he added.

Clavano alleged that the failure to deliver energy through the solar projects had contributed to high electricity prices.

“It was as if it was a paper company. So then we were not able to meet the goals that were set out in terms of electricity and it affected our prices immensely,” he said.

The case against Legarda and Leviste stems from solar power companies linked to the latter that secured government rights involving national solar energy resources.

The unfinished contracts were said to have amounted to more than P10.44 billion.

Former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi was also included in the case submitted for preliminary investigation before the Ombudsman.

‘Baseless charges’

Legarda has rejected the allegations as baseless, arguing that no public funds were directly involved in the matter.

She previously described the charges as an attempt to taint her integrity as a public official, having begun her political career in 1998.

The senator also questioned the timing and nature of the allegations given her role as a senator-judge in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Amid renewed allegations, Legarda clarified that she had simply exercised her right as a public official to file a medical leave and maintained that she had not committed anything wrong and that facts would clear her name.

“I have filed a medical leave with the Senate, in accordance with Senate rules. Neither I nor anyone else deserves to be subjected to unfounded accusations over the exercise of one’s legal rights,” she said.

“I have committed absolutely no wrongdoing.”

While Legarda has denied the accusations, Leviste has yet to issue a public statement on the latest development.

DAILY TRIBUNE has reached out to Leviste for comment on the Ombudsman’s latest remarks.