Remulla expects Legarda, Leviste to return to PH amid probe

MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Friday said he is confident that Sen. Loren Legarda and her son, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, will return to the country amid the anti-graft body’s investigation into them.

Remulla made the statement after the Bureau of Immigration confirmed that Legarda and Leviste left the country on Aug. 2.

READ: ‘Positive’: Matibag says Leviste, Legarda left the country

“I don’t think they will escape. They will come back. We believe that they will come back,” Remulla said in a press conference.

“Maybe they want to come back with handcuffs if they don’t come back,” he also said.

Remulla said the investigation against Legarda and Leviste is still ongoing.

Last Friday, Remulla revealed that the plunder and graft complaints against Legarda and Leviste reached the preliminary investigation stage.

The complaints reaching the preliminary investigation stage means that it is just one step away from the filing of a case in the Sandiganbayan.

Aside from them, Remulla said former Department of Energy chief Alfonso Cusi is included in the Ombudsman complaint.

Investigators said Legarda, Leviste, and Cusi “conspired to secure exclusive government rights over the country’s solar energy resources through legislative and regulatory actions.”

Despite the awards, investigators said “many of the projects were never developed as promised.”

The anti-graft body said the terminated contracts resulted in more than ₱10.44 billion in unpaid financial obligations to the government, but Remulla said the damage incurred by the government is at “hundreds of billions” pesos.

READ: Legarda, son face Ombudsman probe; ‘baseless,’ she says

Legarda was the chairman of the powerful Senate committee on finance, and Remulla said Leviste would not have won the contracts if it were not for his mother.

The senator said such accusations are “false and baseless.” /jpv