The Department of Energy (DoE) said Wednesday it had recovered only P80 million out of the P24 billion in penalties imposed on Solar Philippines, a company owned and founded by Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the recovered amount represented training and development fees, while the remaining penalties included performance bonds tied to government contracts awarded to the company.

“The P24 billion, Mr. Chair, is composed of different things,” Garin said in response to Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno, who asked about the government’s efforts to recover the penalties.

Diokno questioned why less than one percent had been recovered despite the initial order for payment being issued in January.

Garin said the recovery efforts were now being handled by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which are pursuing civil and criminal cases against the company.

“The issue currently is in the hands of the Department of Justice and…with the OSG also, Mr. Chair. And they are handling, the OSG is handling the civil case and the criminal cases with the DoJ,” she said.

Ombudsman probe

The Office of the Ombudsman is also investigating Leviste and his solar firms, with the case recently submitted for preliminary investigation.

State investigators recommended graft and plunder charges over alleged irregularities involving more than P10.44 billion in unpaid obligations to the government.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla previously described the case as an investigation into “ghost electricity,” likening it to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

“We’ve been hitting ghost projects, but this one is ghost electricity — they promised to produce electricity, they promised… to produce it using solar but they did not do it,” Remulla said.