Senator Legarda's camp say her return to majority is possible

Senator Loren Legarda’s camp is not ruling out her possible return to the Senate majority once she comes back to the country.

Tony La Viña, Legarda’s spokesman, said the senator could potentially realign with the majority, pointing to the frequent changes in Senate leadership in recent years.

“I will not rule that out. In the last four years there have been four Senate presidents. The majority has changed the last four years so I wouldn’t rule that out. It’s apparently a normal thing in the Senate,” La Viña said in an interview.

La Viña also said Legarda could still be communicating with fellow senators, citing her longstanding relationships in the chamber.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she does that. I’m also not surprised if she’s talking to other senators because she’s a good senator, she’s very good with her colleagues, they actually love her, I will say that almost universally,” he added.

La Viña said he did not see the situation as directly tied to the impeachment proceedings. Instead, he pointed to the allegations involving Legarda’s son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, whose renewable energy ventures are the subject of an Ombudsman investigation.

The office has been conducting a preliminary investigation into plunder and graft complaints involving Legarda, Leviste and former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

“I wouldn’t know that, you can also say otherwise that the charges are … but she actually doesn’t think that this has something to do with the impeachment because she knows Senate politics and it’s kinda…it can move any hour, any day,” La Viña explained.

“We actually think this is really about Leandro Leviste’s exposé on corruption, that’s the one that upset a lot of people and so that’s just politics,” he added.

Legarda has been on medical leave since August 3. Her leave was most recently extended through October 9, with reports saying she has been in France for medical treatment.

Her prolonged absence has been among the factors affecting the Senate impeachment court's calculation of the voting denominator.

Legarda and Leviste are under investigation by the Ombudsman over allegations of incomplete solar energy projects with obligations estimated at P10.44 billion. Both Legarda and Leviste have filed counter-affidavits and have denied wrongdoing.