Legarda camp urges reconsideration on ‘political’ plunder raps

The camp of Senator Loren Legarda sought for the Office of the Ombudsman to reconsider the pursuance of a plunder complaint against their client, believing that the charges were merely a political attack against the Legarda and her son congressman Leandro Leviste.

Speaking during a news forum on Friday, the senator’s spokesperson Atty. Tony La Viña maintained that there was no sufficient evidence to prove that their client was guilty of any criminal act.

“We would like the government, especially the Ombudsman to reconsider and not pursue the case,” La Viña explained.

The lawyer expressed that the case would not even pass the standards that were established by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla for the Department of Justice (DOJ) that cases should not be filed without a certainty of conviction.

La Viña likewise stressed his belief that the cases being sought against Legarda and Leviste were a mere illustration of how the law was being “weaponized” to silence critics of the current administration and other corrupt officials in government.

Doubling down on his perspective, he said that there may have been a mistake on the part of the Ombudsman and that they would just give the latter the “benefit of the doubt” for the case.

“So, considering all of this, we would just give them the benefit of the doubt, they just made a mistake. Please reconsider. Please look at your invoices, please look at your bills, please look at the documents. That’s the first thing we are asking for,” the lawyer said.

The plunder case against the mother and son, which is currently at the preliminary investigation stage at the Ombudsman, was related to their alleged inability to fulfill their commitment to the government with respect to solar power.

La Viña, for his part, argued that the reason that the “Solar para sa Bayan” project was not implemented was because of the inability of the Department of Energy to implement “clear rules, regulations, and specified locations” for the systems.

He would further defend Leviste, noting that he did not owe P24 billion in debt and had no monopoly on renewable energy contracts as the projects allocated to him only accounted for 10 percent of the Philippine market.

Faced with the assertions, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano maintained that any decisions that were made at their office were strictly based on evidence.

“Rest assured, the office will base our statements and decisions on evidence,” Clavano told reporters in a viber message.

Legarda and Leviste are reportedly in France, as the senator was said to be recovering from a lung and auto-immune condition which worsened under stress.

The long-time congresswoman recently extended her medical leave until 9 October, and has been absent from the Senate on 29 July.