Leviste’s ultimatum to Dizon: Confirm DPWH files release—or else…

Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste on Saturday issued an ultimatum to Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, demanding that he admit ordering the release of “insertions” in the agency’s 2025 budget or face having all the proponents publicly named.

The warning came on the heels of a GMA News report in which Dizon was quoted as saying he cannot authenticate anything he did not possess or see at hand.

Dizon was referring to the flood of files that Leviste has been posting on his Facebook page since 24 December. The documents in question were allegedly sourced by Leviste from the late DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral in September, three months before Cabral fell to her death off a 30-meter cliff along Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet, on 19 December.

The documents also include allocables, the annual allocation that can be allocated by the district congressman.

"If Sec. Vince will not admit that he gave me these files; I will be forced to name the people who spoke to me to stop the files from being released, who might also be the ones preventing Sec. Vince from confirming the authenticity of the files,” he wrote in Filipino in a Facebook post early Saturday.

The neophyte lawmaker has been insisting that the files detailing the proponents of billions of budget insertions within the scandal-ridden DPWH were personally handed to him by Cabral, but Dizon argued otherwise.

In an article published by GMA News on Friday, Dizon accused the neophyte lawmaker of forcefully taking the files from Cabral’s office and even using the computer of a particular staff member.

“Usec. Cabral told me all of this when it happened,” stated the report, quoting Dizon. “[He] forced to save the files…into his flash drive from a staff member’s computer. That’s what happened in September.”

Leviste’s admission has raised concerns across sectors, casting doubt on its authenticity.

Specifically, Liberal Party president Erin Tañada said such an audacious claim raises many questions, particularly how the lawmaker obtained it and whether it is indeed legitimate.

He stressed that Dizon must authenticate the files immediately, warning that failing to do so could jeopardize the ongoing investigation into the anomalies and systematic corruption in flood control projects.

‘Leviste’s political ambition’

University of the Philippines Political Science Professor Jean Encinas-Franco, meanwhile, questioned the sincerity of Leviste’s intention, suggesting that he may have an ulterior motive, like eyeing a higher office, for doing his so-called expose.

“It doesn't seem genuine because it seems like he is aiming for a higher position. Why does he want such media attention almost every day? He runs the risk of overexposure to the point that people may turn off on him because sometimes the optics don't come across as genuine,” she said, partly in Filipino, in an interview. “You're a legislator, but it seems like you're becoming a Marites,” a Filipino slang term for a person who likes to gossip or spread rumors.

According to Leviste, he intends to publicly release the names of all proponents of the budget insertions in the DPWH’s funding. Still, he will not do so unless he has Dizon’s imprimatur, even though he has already released dozens of files on his Facebook page.

Leviste claimed that the files were turned over to him by Cabral on Sept. 4 following a marching order from Dizon, who was only on his second day in the position at the time, after replacing resigned secretary Manuel Bonoan.

He warned that the release of the files would have “wide-ranging consequences” because it involves not only members of Congress, but also Cabinet secretaries, other officials from the executive, and undersecretaries outside the DPWH.

Malacañang, however, downplayed the allegations, asserting that they have to be supported by “verified facts and documents.”

Earlier, Leviste claimed he had already shown the files in question to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure and the Ombudsman in November but would not publicize them, saying he preferred that the DPWH itself do the job.

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 pertains to Cabral approaching lawmakers with offers of getting kickbacks for their pet projects, which she would insert into the initial budget of the DPWH, later funded after Congress and Malacañang approve the General Appropriations Bill.

House urged: Explain P10.5B hike in budget

As this developed, Leviste also alleged that the House’s budget incurred a significant increase from P17.20 billion to P27.70 billion, which was approved “without explanation or debate.”

Originally, P17.20 billion was allocated to the House under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) endorsed by Malacañang, but the House allegedly added P10.5 billion in its version of the General Appropriations Bill, pushing total funding to nearly P28 billion.

“I’m not only questioning the outcome, but the process: Why was no explanation given for the need for this increase, and why is no one speaking up on this? There was no committee hearing; this was not in the committee report, and it just appeared in the substitute bill,” he lamented.

According to the solon, he reached out to the committee in charge for a detailed breakdown of how the budget will be used, but to no avail.

He alleged that the House’s maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) jumped from P10.75 billion to P18.58 billion, the majority of which is liquidated “by certification,” making it vulnerable to misuse.

The total amount, he said, translates to each congressman receiving P58.42 million per year, although he noted that they also have expenses for their offices and official functions, and part of the MOOE budget also covers the operating expenses of Congress itself.

He claimed that each member of Congress receives a monthly MOOE budget and bonuses every October and December, coinciding with the approval of the annual budget, though he did not disclose the exact amount because “allocations are unevenly distributed.”

Leviste firmly posits that the MOOE budget is being used by the House to pay for consultants, who will function as “keyboard warriors” to attack the critics of the government.

Each congressman, he claimed, could have 10 to 100 consultants under the CARE or Congressional Assistance, Response and Education program, and would get paid in exchange for boosting the government’s programs. The payments for consultants were allegedly wrapped in either a plastic bag or a backpack, citing information from consultants themselves working in the House.