Bribe try backfires: DPWH engineer headed to jail

Proving that not every lawmaker can be blinded by the glitter of dirty cash, Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste chose justice over silence — sending a crooked public servant straight to jail.

The culprit? Abelardo Calalo of the 1st Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Batangas who allegedly tried to hand the young congressman a staggering P3.1 million in grease money. The bribe, meant to bury an investigation into anomalous projects, became instead the very evidence that entrapped him.

On Monday, Leviste’s office confirmed they will be filing charges against Calalo on Tuesday.

“We should not tolerate any corruption in the DPWH. We should demand projects of better quality and lower cost, and obligate contractors to correct any deficiencies immediately without additional cost to the government. Beyond this case, we will push for broader reforms to address systemic problems in the DPWH,” the statement from Leviste’s office said.

The 32-year-old Leviste, a new congressman after he beat Batangas Rep. Eric Buhain in the May midterm elections, is the son of Senator Loren Legarda and former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste.

Before entering politics, he had made a name for himself as the country’s youngest business mogul, founding Solar Philippines in 2013, and later partnering with industry titans Manuel V. Pangilinan of the MVP Group and Enrique Razon of the Razon Group of Companies.

Grease money?

In a report by the Philippine National Police Regional Office 4A, Calalo, a district engineer in Balayan, Batangas, was collared in a special operation in Barangay Poblacion Zone, Taal, Batangas, at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.

The suspect was accosted for allegedly offering Leviste a bribe of P3,126,900.

Calalo allegedly dangled a 5 to 10-percent “cut’—P180 million to P360 million from P3.6 billion worth of questionable projects—in exchange for Leviste killing the investigation.

“According to Congressman Leviste, the bribe was extended in an attempt to dissuade him from initiating an investigation into alleged anomalies involving DPWH projects in the first district of Batangas. Congressman Leviste reported this to the authorities which resulted in the arrest of the suspect,” the police report stated.

Bonoan hails arrest

In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE on Monday, Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan welcomed Calalo’s arrest, calling it a crucial step toward cleansing the agency of corruption.

“All district engineers, you have now seen what happened here in the Batangas 1st Engineering District. Allegedly, someone tried to bribe a congressman. I’m warning you, all of you district engineers, you better behave. Acts like thisI will never tolerate. Whoever does these things, I will throw the book at you. Do your jobs properly, with transparency. Let’s make sure everything we do in the DPWH is done right and aboveboard,” Bonoan said in English and Filipino.

Bonoan said that despite the district engineer being in custody, he will issue a memorandum tomorrow placing him under preventive suspension.

The appointment paper of Calalo secured by DAILY TRIBUNE showed he was assigned as officer in charge of the Office of the District Engineer, Batangas 1st District Engineering Office, DPWH Region IV-A, on 27 August 2024.

Bonoan confirmed that he signed Calalo’s appointment paper, but when pressed about the latter’s previous assignment, he admitted he was not familiar with his background.

Snappy salute

Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson, who bared the collusion in government flood control projects between contractors and some lawmakers, gave Leviste a snappy salute for his honesty and unquestionable integrity.

“My snappy salute to neophyte Cong Leandro Leviste for the successful police entrapment operation against a corrupt DPWH district engineer who tried to bribe him with up to P360 million in kickbacks from infra projects in his district. May his tribe increase,” Lacson posted on his official X (Twitter) account.