Cayetano, Legarda still absent from VP impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines — Where is Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano?

The senator was once again marked absent on Monday in both the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte and the plenary session, with no notice from his office.

This was confirmed by Senate secretary Renato Bantug, who, when asked whether Cayetano had submitted an explanation for his absence, told the Inquirer in a text message that there was “no communication from his office.”

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As of Monday afternoon, Cayetano’s office had yet to disclose the reason behind the senator’s absence.

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Cayetano has been a no-show at the trial and the plenary sessions, both held from Mondays to Wednesdays, since Aug. 11.

READ: NBI probes ‘ghost’ flood control projects in Cayetano bailiwick Taguig

According to his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, as well as Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Cayetano was absent the previous week because he was “not feeling well.”

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Sen. Loren Legarda, meanwhile, is also out of sight at the Senate floor after once again extending her medical leave up to Aug. 19.

READ: Legarda still on medical leave until Aug 19, says Senate secretariat

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“Her office sent in a letter this morning. Medical leave from 17 to 19 August,” Bantug said in a text message to reporters.

Legarda has been absent from the impeachment trial and Senate sessions since Aug. 3, after leaving the country on Aug. 2 via Hong Kong, with France as her final destination. Her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, also left the Philippines via Hong Kong on the same day.

The senator filed a medical leave with the Senate Secretariat first for the period Aug. 3 to 5, and then for Aug. 11 to 12.

Legarda and Leviste, along with former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, are facing a preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman for graft and plunder involving alleged ghost solar projects worth more than P10 billion.

Ombudsman investigators said Legarda, Leviste, and Cusi “conspired to secure exclusive government rights over the country’s solar energy resources through legislative and regulatory actions … but many of the projects were never developed as promised.”

Legarda has denied the allegations, saying they were “utterly false and baseless,” and asked the public not to draw conclusions linking her travel to the allegations against her.

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Her office, however, has yet to issue a new statement regarding the extension of her medical leave for this week. /cb