Batangas Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste has further strengthened the case for an ethics complaint against him, according to Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon.
Ridon raised alarm over the alleged “ransacking” of the DPWH Batangas 1st District Engineering Office by Leviste and his group in August 2025.
“This incident should serve as further basis for full House ethics proceedings against Rep. Leviste,” said Ridon, chair of the Committee on Public Accounts.
He urged DPWH to submit a full report on “who participated, what documents were accessed or copied, what authority was invoked, and what instructions were given.”
Earlier reports said Leviste forcibly took and copied DPWH budget documents from the office of then-Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral on Sept. 4. Cabral died on Dec. 18.
“The fight for truth and accountability cannot dispense with due process and the rule of law. What Rep. Leviste and his team allegedly undertook… was an unlawful search operation—conducted without official authority and without a search warrant,” Ridon stressed.
“This was an abuse of official power… This is not a small matter that the House of Representatives should allow to pass unnoticed.”
Ridon said the two incidents show a disturbing trend.
“Viewed alongside the allegations of the unauthorized taking of DPWH documents from the late Undersecretary Cabral, this presents a pattern of abuse of official power by Rep. Leviste,” he said.
“House members should be held to a higher standard… This incident provides full justification for House ethics proceedings against Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.” (ZIA LUNA)
