Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste on Tuesday proposed that DPWH-Batangas 1st District Engineer Abelardo Calalo be made a state witness to help in the investigation of corruption in DPWH projects.
He made this statement after filing formal charges before the Batangas Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
“The person who knows the most about how projects and contractors are selected and how they are defrauded in the first district of Batangas is none other than the district engineer and that is one reason why I propose that he be a state witness and hopefully our government will provide protection to our state witnesses,” he told reporters in Filipino.
He explained that Calalo may be overwhelmed in the developments noting the latter has yet to respond to the offer.
Since the public is now interested in the ongoing investigation on failed flood control projects, Leviste underscored the possibility of individuals who may be considered more guilty than DPWH employees.
“So we can achieve our goal to lessen corruption until such time that there is no corruption anymore in DPWH, it is not only the DPWH employees that must be held accountable. I believe that through the help of state witnesses, we can catch a bigger fish.”
Among the charges filed against Calalo include direct bribery, corruption of public officials, and violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act as well as Code of Conduct in Ethical Standards for Public Officials.
In Leviste’s sworn statement, Calalo allegedly said that contractors were willing to provide 5% to 10% of the P3.6 billion project, equivalent to P180 million to P360 million, as “support” for the former’s educational programs.
Likewise, there was a contractor who was allegedly willing to withdraw the initial P15 million, while the P3.1 million that Calalo brought was equivalent to 3% of the P104 million project, with a receipt attached.
Leviste stressed that there was no fair bidding since contractors were allegedly being selected in lieu of the [Standard Operating Procedure] SOP adding that Calalo also named some of the biggest contractors in the district and their ties to former government officials.
“If I had agreed, there would have been meetings with the contractors this week, which could have resulted in hundreds of millions of pesos in kickbacks from projects in the year 2025 alone. In three years, the Congressman of the First District of Batangas could have received more than P1-billion pesos,” he said.
Meanwhile, the neophyte lawmaker vowed to continue the investigation on all DPWH projects in the district, not just flood control projects, and ensure that any defective projects are promptly fixed without increasing the government’s costs.
For her part, Batangas governor Vilma Santos-Recto condemned the incident stating the act reflects a seeming culture of impunity that may have been tolerated in the past.
“If this has been the practice in previous administrations, let it be known that under my leadership, such a system will find no refuge here in Batangas…. Every peso of public funds must go to projects that serve our people not into the pockets of the corrupt. I commend Congressman Leviste for standing firm and choosing integrity,” she said.
Further, she vowed that the provincial government will never tolerate any form of corruption.
