Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste is planning to press charges against the arrested Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer, who reportedly attempted to “bribe” him in a bid to halt his office’s looming investigation into the anomaly-plagued flood control projects in his district.

Leviste’s office confirmed Monday that a criminal complaint will be filed against Abelardo Calalo, the district engineer of Batangas First District, who was nabbed in an special entrapment operation on Friday for “bribing” the lawmaker of millions of pesos to drop his impending probe into the flood control projects undertaken by the DPWH in the district—some of which were allegedly ghost or non-existent, based on initial reports.

Calalo will be sued at the Office of the Batangas Provincial Prosecutor on Tuesday. Leviste’s office refused to elaborate for now on what specific criminal charges will be pressed against the district engineer. 

DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan confirmed that Calalo is now placed under suspension amid the botched bribery attempt of over “P3.1 million.”

“We should not tolerate any corruption in DPWH. We should demand projects at better quality and lower cost, and obligate contractors to correct any deficiencies immediately without additional cost to government,” Leviste said.

In addition, the neophyte solon stressed the need to undertake broader reforms to address “systemic problems” within the DPWH, which has been embroiled in allegations of corruption in connection with the multi-billion infrastructure and flood control projects. 

In an interview last week, Leviste disclosed that some of the projects proposed by the DPWH in Batangas' first district for 2026 lack feasibility studies and that even if implemented, these initiatives won’t resolve the flood crisis in the province, citing advice from field engineers.

Leviste also claimed that “almost all” flood control projects in his district are already in a poor state or are nearly wrecked only one year after being completed. 

This raises concerns that the DPWH’s contractor deliberately used substandard materialize so that the agency could ask for another cut in every annual budget for the impaired projects’ reparation. 

Leviste confirmed the scheme, saying the DPWH requested additional budget for 2026 to fund those faulty projects in his district, which were implemented this year. 

“The contractor should be responsible for repairing the flood control projects that have been completed," he said last week. “If we cannot resolve the problems in the implementation of these DPWH projects, then it is not advisable for Congress to provide a bigger budget.”

Congress had already kicked off deliberation for the P6.793 trillion proposed budget for 2026. Despite the alleged anomalies, the DPWH remains the second agency to receive the biggest chunk of next year’s budget with P881.3 billion, next to the education sector with P1.224 trillion.

In light of the flood control scandal, Akabyan Rep. Chel Diokno, who also hails from Batangas, stressed the urgent need for law enforcement groups to hold the erring contractors and government officials accountable, arguing that such a bribery attempt is “alarming, unacceptable, and a direct betrayal” of public trust. 

“May this serve as a clear warning to other corrupt officials: the people are watching, will not tolerate, and will continue to fight so that the public treasury is not stolen,” he averred. 

About 9,855 flood control projects with a price tag of P545.64 billion have been implemented under President Marcos Jr.’s watch. 

Earlier this month, the Chief Executive revealed that of the 2,400 contractors, only 15 firms have bagged P100 billion or 20 percent of all flood control projects since he assumed office in June 2022, up to May of this year, accounting for 20 percent of the entire P545.64 billion.

In a Senate hearing earlier this month, Bonoan confirmed that there are indeed flood control projects that are “ghosts” or non-existent flood control projects in the towns of Calumpit, Malolos, and Hagonoy in Bulacan.

Wawao Builders, the reported contractor of these “ghosts” projects, is among the top 15 firms flagged by Marcos, cornering P5.97 billion in contracts for 85 projects in Bulacan alone. The firm accounted for P9 billion worth of contracts nationwide. 

Bulacan, tagged as the “most notorious” in the said scandal, received the biggest chunk of funds allocated for Central Luzon, with a whopping P44 billion, and is now being subject to a fraud audit.