It remains to be seen whether Sen. Loren Legarda will participate again in Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial, as this will depend on her health, according to her lawyer and spokesperson Tony La Viña.
Speaking on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “On Point,” La Viña said Legarda is in France and is dealing with an autoimmune disease related to her lungs.
La Viña said her condition flares up when she is faced with stress and fatigue.
“It’s been there for a while, actually. I think parang autoimmune disease din siya,” he said.
He also said she wants to return home to the Philippines.
“She wants to go back, not for the impeachment trial necessarily, but for her advocacies,” he said.
“I think in time, with the medical situation addressed, she’ll be back,” he added.
Asked if Legarda still hoped to participate in the impeachment trial, he said it depends on her medical condition, whether she could come back.
He also said it was unclear to him if she could still vote since she missed several weeks of the hearings.
He said she had no reaction to the new rule of the Senate on who could be included in determining the two-thirds vote to convict.
Under the new rule, only senators who can legally and factually participate in the proceedings would be counted.
Excluded from the denominator are senators who are detained or suspended; who are sought by authorities and whose whereabouts are unknown; who are suffering from a physical or medical incapacity; who are beyond the coercive processes of the Senate; and who are similarly situated.