'Walang kabuluhan': Palace rejects Leviste’s travel claim

Malacañang on Saturday dismissed as “senseless” the claim of Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste that the Marcos administration had asked him to travel abroad and stop releasing alleged evidence on anomalous flood control projects.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his administration are focused on more pressing national concerns, particularly efforts to boost the country’s economy.

“Abala po ang Pangulo at ang administrasyong ito sa mas mahahalagang issue ng bayan. Tutok si Pangulong Marcos Jr. para iangat ang ekonomiya ng bansa (The President and this administration are busy with more important national issues. President Marcos Jr. is focused on boosting the country’s economy),” Castro said.

Castro added that Malacañang would not waste time addressing what she described as a “meaningless” allegation.

“Hindi namin binibigyang halaga ang pahayag na walang kabuluhan. Sayang lang ang oras (We do not give importance to senseless statements. They are just a waste of time),” she said.

Leviste had earlier claimed that he was asked by supposed “representatives of the administration” to seek travel authority and go overseas, allegedly in exchange for halting the release of documents linking government officials to questionable flood control and infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The lawmaker first raised the issue in November 2025, saying he had obtained documents purportedly connecting Cabinet members and other officials to irregular DPWH projects. 

He said the documents came from former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, who died after falling into a ravine in Tuba, Benguet.

Leviste said he remains ready to speak about the matter “as long as [he is] asked or allowed.”