Liberal Party questions authenticity of Leviste’s DPWH docs claim

The admission of Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste of possessing the documents detailing the proponents of budget “insertions” within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), allegedly provided to him by the late undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, triggered concerns Monday from the Liberal Party (LP), which cast doubt on its authenticity. 

LP president Erin Tañada said such an audacious claim raises many questions, most importantly, how Leviste got access to it and whether it is legitimate. 

The former lawmaker pointed out that it is imperative that the DPWH immediately authenticate the documents from Leviste, as failing to do so could jeopardize the ongoing probe into the alleged large-scale corruption in the flood control projects.

“Is he [here] to help us understand who should be held accountable, or is he making our situation more chaotic? So these are the questions that have to be answered first,” Tañada said partly in Filipino in an interview.

“We don’t want that because of Usec. Cabral’s death, a lot of information will come out that could disrupt the current investigation,” he added.

There’s no other agency than the DPWH itself that could validate whether the possessed files of Leviste are legitimate, according to Tañada. Although he said that the testimonies of Cabral in the probe of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee into the flood control anomalies, which were made under oath, could also help “fact-check” the documents in question. 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Leviste claimed that Cabral handed him the documents on 4 September following a marching order from DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, who was only on his second day in the position at the time after replacing resigned secretary Manuel Bonoan.

Leviste said he already showed the files to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and the Ombudsman in November. He, however, refused to disclose it publicly, saying he preferred that the DPWH itself do the job.

According to the neophyte lawmaker, he intends to release the names of the proponents of the budget insertions in the DPWH’s funding if he is allowed by Congress. 

He claimed that the release of the files would have “wide-ranging consequences” as it involves not only members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, but also officials from the executive and undersecretaries outside the DPWH.

Two weeks later, after the alleged turnover of the files, Cabral also stepped down as undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership, a post responsible for overseeing the agency’s infrastructure planning, design, and construction as well as its PPP projects. 

Her resignation came in the wake of congressional probes, exposing her alleged involvement in budget insertions. 

In September, Senator Ping Lacson explicitly tagged Cabral in the irregularities in budget insertions, claiming she reached out to Senator Tito Sotto's staff shortly after the May 2025 polls to ask what public works projects they wanted to insert in the 2026 national budget.

The system allegedly involves Cabral approaching lawmakers with offers of getting kickbacks for their pet projects, which she will insert into the initial budget of the DPWH, which will be later funded after Congress and Malacanang approve the General Appropriations Bill.