Senator Loren Legarda confirmed in a statement released Friday that she filed for a medical leave from August 3 to 5.

She asked the public to refrain from engaging in speculation, such as associating her trip overseas with the “false and baseless” accusations she has been subject to, alluding to the plunder and graft charges she and her son may face following the Office of the Ombudsman’s preliminary investigation.

She was accompanied by her son, Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste, who is also being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“I ask the public not to draw unwarranted conclusions from my travel or link it to the recent false and baseless allegations, which undeservedly besmirch a reputation that I have built over decades of public service,” she said.

On July 31, the Office of the Ombudsman announced that it has launched a preliminary investigation on the alleged misuse of an exclusive solar energy contract granted to Congressman Leviste.

His mother, Senator Legarda, was also implicated in the case, being the head of the Senate Finance Committee then—a position that allowed her to allegedly pull strings to secure the contract for Leviste, who became the sole producer and distributor of solar power.

In a statement in response to the Ombudsman’s announcement, Legarda denied ever “straying from integrity,” a quality she claims she has always upheld. She added that the accusation unjustly tarnishes her reputation, aside from being “baseless.”

“Buong katiyakan kong sinasabi na ang mga ibinabalitang paratang ay lubos na hindi totoo at walang anumang batayan. Walang pondo ng bayan na sangkot. Handa kaming ilahad ang katotohanan,” she said.