The House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to strike portions of the privilege speech of Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste from the official record after lawmakers objected to his allegations of corruption, bribery and vote-buying involving top government and local officials.
Leviste, who took the floor during the plenary session, was responding to an earlier social media post by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto who had criticized him over corruption allegations and denied any links to questionable projects.
In his speech, Leviste alleged that CWS Partylist Rep. Edwin Gardiola spent around P1 billion to finance the campaigns of Batangas officials, including Governor Vilma Santos-Recto and vice gubernatorial candidate Luis “Lucky” Manzano, along with other candidates — claims Gardiola had previously denied in connection with separate accusations over flood control projects.
“In my estimate and based on my research, more than P1 billion was spent by Congressman Edwin Gardiola for Vilma Santos, Lucky Manzano, other candidates, and himself as first nominee of the CWS Partylist in the 2025 elections,” Leviste said.
He also claimed that he was asked to support the Santos-Manzano tandem in his district and later received reports of cash being distributed in exchange for political backing. He further alleged a scheme in which campaign funds were supposedly sourced from a Department of Public Works and Highways district office in Batangas, a setup he said involved both Recto and Gardiola.
House pushback
Leviste’s remarks immediately drew objections from several lawmakers, with Assistant House Majority Leader Ryan Recto defending his father and saying the allegations lacked factual basis.
“It is important that statements made in this plenary are based on facts, not assumptions, not insinuations, and certainly not incomplete information,” the young Recto said.
Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin also questioned the credibility of the claimed campaign spending, prompting Leviste to argue that large-scale election spending was a nationwide issue and not unique to Batangas.
Motion to strike from record
The exchanges prompted Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon to move to strike Leviste’s privilege speech from the House record, citing its alleged lack of substantiation.
Garin later proposed limiting the motion to only those portions of the speech deemed unsupported, instead of deleting it in full.
House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos then moved to refer the privilege speech and the motions to the Committee on Rules for further review and appropriate action, leaving the final decision on which parts — if any — would be stricken from the record up to the panel.