Leviste: No senator exempted, along with all district, party-list solons
The so-called “Cabral list” showed all senators and congressmen had insertions in the 2025 budget for projects lodged under the Department of Public Works and Highways, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste on Monday said, even as he has yet to disclose publicly his supposed copy of the list.
In a radio interview, Leviste said all senators, including his mother, Senator Loren Legarda, were in the list of the late Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.
He said insertions in the DPWH budget from senators reached around P120 billion, including about P1 billion under Legarda’s name based on the list.
“I apologize to our senators, but based on my recollection of the files, and I have a copy in my laptop, I cannot recall a single senator who was not in the list… (My mom) is on the list. I asked her and she said she was not aware of what was listed. The insertion attributed to her was actually the smallest,” Leviste said.
He claimed all members of the House of Representatives had at least P150 million in “basic allocation” for DPWH projects.
“That P150 million is the standard for each congressman, including party-list representatives,” he said.
Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo earlier told a Senate hearing that Cabral created the so-called “allocable” system for the DPWH in the National Expenditure Program.
Bernardo claimed Cabral reserved a substantial percentage of the “allocables” for her and former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan’s preferred projects.
“Usec. Cabral would tell me that she would communicate and meet legislators to inform them of the amount of their allocations and ask them for titles of projects that they want to include in the DPWH budget,” Bernardo said.
DPWH to turn over Cabral’s list, gadgets
Ombudsman: Cabral was ready to cooperate
For his part, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano described Cabral as “a very rich source of information with regards to who inserted certain projects which turned out to be ghost projects.”
He said the late DPWH official was “willing to cooperate” to cooperate with the Ombudsman in its probe into anomalous flood control projects.
Clavano urged those who have a copy of the so-called “Cabral list” to turn it over to the Ombudsman.
Earlier in the day, the Office of the Ombudsman issued a subpoena duces tecum against all computer and electronic devices issued to Cabral.
The DPWH said it will comply with the subpoena and submit all data storage devices, computers, and related digital equipment, with the necessary authority, to the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) for forensic examination.
The department said it will also surrender all documents, records, and files maintained by Cabral’s office during her tenure.
“The DPWH remains committed to transparency and will continue to cooperate fully with investigating bodies to provide any further assistance required in the ongoing inquiry,” it said.
