Daily Tribune‘I have no ghost projects. I have no flood control projects. All my projects as a lawmaker have receipts and are felt by the people,’ he said, citing road concreting and the construction of classrooms across the province.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Tuesday pushed back against the barrage of allegations of Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, whom he accused of spreading falsehoods and attempting to manipulate political outcomes through bribery and disinformation.
Recto’s reaction came a day after Leviste urged the House of Representatives to investigate the Palace official’s supposed links to CWS Partylist Rep. Edwin Gardiola, whom the Batangas lawmaker has described as “the top Department of Public Works and Highways contractor in Congress” and a key figure in allegedly anomalous flood control projects.
Gardiola has denied Leviste’s claims.
In a strongly worded statement in Filipino, Recto said he initially chose to ignore Leviste’s accusations but decided to respond as the latter persisted with his claims.
“With the many challenges our country is facing, I did not want to dignify the lies of someone seeking attention, lacking judgment and lacking compassion,” Recto said. “But you can only fight a natural-born liar with the truth. And there is a limit to one’s patience in the face of relentless, baseless attacks.”
Recto alleged that during their first meeting, Leviste offered P400 million with which to bribe a political rival to withdraw from the campaign.
“I refused,” he said.
He said that about a week later, Leviste offered P1 billion to secure the withdrawal of then Governor Vilma Santos so he could take her place.
“I refused again. It was insulting. It was infuriating,” Recto said, adding that he held back from exposing the bribe attempt out of respect for Leviste’s mother, Senator Loren Legarda, whom he described as a former colleague. He added that Legarda later apologized to him.
Recto also said reports have reached his camp about an alleged large-scale vote-buying operation in Batangas supposedly orchestrated by Leviste.
He said the lawmaker had repeatedly sought his support to acquire “thousands of hectares” of sugar land in Nasugbu.
“I had no capacity to grant what would amount to a land grab,” Recto said. “I refused again.”
Recto went on to accuse Leviste of trying to “drown” a P24-billion obligation, which he claimed stemmed from so-called “ghost” solar projects.
“That is his biggest scam against the government and the Filipino people,” Recto said, echoing earlier accusations by other lawmakers that some solar ventures linked to Leviste’s former companies failed to materialize as promised.
The former finance chief and senator denied any involvement in questionable infrastructure or energy projects, stressing that his record in Batangas is backed by tangible accomplishments.
“I have no ghost projects. I have no flood control projects. All my projects as a lawmaker have receipts and are felt by the people,” he said, citing road concreting and the construction of classrooms across the province.
Recto also accused Leviste of running disinformation drives, including using troll farms and artificial intelligence-driven campaigns aimed at discrediting members of the Cabinet and the administration.
“Reports say he is distributing money to smear me out of his hunger for power and attention,” Recto said. “There are also reports of AI operations, a factory of lies, and troll farms being used.”
He dismissed the attempts to link him to Gardiola, saying that they had long been political rivals in Batangas and had only worked together in 2022 out of mutual respect.
In a particularly sharp remark, Recto said: “Never trust a man who disrespects his mother.”
“He is a deranged and dangerous person… resorting to lies to escape accountability,” he added.
Despite the escalating rhetoric, Recto said he would rather focus on governance.
“There are important challenges that require our full attention and action,” he said. “If he does not stop telling lies about me, it is tempting to start telling the truth about him.”
He ended his statement with a Batangueño saying: “Do not mind a rabid dog that keeps barking.”
“I am saying this as Ralph Recto, a Batangueño,” he said.
Leviste has yet to respond to Recto’s allegations. He had previously denied wrongdoing in connection with so-called ghost solar projects and had argued that his firms’ stalled installations were due to regulatory and permit issues, not an intent to defraud the government.
