WE’RE barely into the new year, but it seems we should be expecting an extension of fireworks display when Congress resumes session on Jan. 26. But of course, that would be limited to the halls of the House in the Batasang Pambansa.
This was after Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon averred before 2025 ended that Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste could be charged before House Ethics Committee after staff of the late Public Works undersecretary Catalina Cabral accused the Batangas congressman of forcibly taking documents from Cabral’s office, contrary to his claim that they were voluntarily given to him.
According to the staff, the paper cut on Cabral’s finger, which was seen to be bandaged in the CCTV footage showing Leviste and Cabral walking together, was proof that there was indeed some sort of struggle inside the latter’s office.
Ridon said allegations of Leviste forcibly taking the documents from Cabral’s office strengthens the possibility of an ethics complaint being brought against him because of his actions.
“This incident should serve as further basis for full House ethics proceedings against Representative Leviste,” Ridon, chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, said in a statement on Dec. 31.
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“The DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) leadership should submit a full report on the incident — who participated, what documents were accessed or copied, what authority was invoked and what instructions were given to DPWH personnel by Representative Leviste and his team,” he added.
However, it is not only the issue of forcibly taking the documents which Leviste claims contains the names of government officials who facilitated insertions in the 2025 national budget, which could make Leviste liable, but also the inclusion of names who were not even members of Congress when the 2025 budget was drafted and approved.
Among them are Ridon himself who only assumed office last June 30; Camarines Norte Rep. Mirasol Panotes, who passed away on April 29, 2022; Palawan Rep. Edward Hagedorn, who passed away on Oct. 3, 2023; and former senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, who was not a member of the 19th Congress, which passed the 2025 budget.
While insisting the list to be authentic as it came directly from Cabral’s office, some sectors are saying the list could have actually been edited as it would be impossible for Cabral to have included the names of those people who had no business in the drafting of the 2025 budget.
Leviste further earned the ire of his colleagues when he accused members of the 20th Congress of receiving P2 million in bonuses, which was strongly denied by Palawan Rep. Jose Alvarez, who said the checks cited by Leviste were regular disbursements for House operations even as he stressed that the checks posted by the Batangas congressman online did not indicate misuse of public funds or a lack of transparency.
“There is nothing irregular about the checks issued to Representative Leviste. They aren’t Christmas bonuses as he alleges,” Alvarez said.
“These are lawful, audited and well-documented disbursements that every member of the House receives to cover the salaries of legislators and to ensure their district offices can function properly and deliver services on the ground,” he added.
The Palawan lawmaker explained that members of Congress are provided compensation, and maintenance and other operating expenses to support district offices, including staff pay and basic constituent services.
Alvarez said framing routine operational funds as bonuses was “misleading and inaccurate,” adding that contrary to claims that the House increased its budget for 2026, it was actually reduced to P27.7 billion for 2026, from P33.7 billion for 2025.
Forcibly taking documents from a government office, falsely accusing nonmembers of the 19th Congress of inserting billions of pesos in the 2025 national budget, and again “wrongly” accusing his own colleagues of receiving P2 million in bonuses, Leviste might run out of allies in the institution which would decide his fate.
And I won’t be surprised if he is meted a harsher penalty than his closest buddy in the House — Rep. Francisco Barzaga.
