Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste said he is not backing out of his P111 million-worth civil libel case against Palace press officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro, involving defamatory claims in Castro’s vlog about the sale of a solar energy company's franchise.

“Yes, tuloy po (ito),” said Leviste in a Viber message on Sunday when asked by the DAILY TRIBUNE if he would desist from the case filed last January at Branch 11 of the Balayan Regional Trial Court.

The complaint seeks P100 million in moral damages, ₱10 million in exemplary damages, and ₱1 million in attorney's fees.

But in a radio interview on Sunday, Usec. Claire Castro, a lawyer, maintained that she will face the case and defend herself.

Castro said she has no plans to hire a lawyer and remains confident that she did not violate any law.

The Palace press officer earlier maintained that she is ready to face the allegations and argued that the complaints are meant to silence her, stating she "will stand for" what she believes to be true.

Leviste earlier stressed that the company he sold has no franchise, maintaining that he does not want to hurt Castro; however, he had to defend his name because Castro had made several vlogs about him.