Leviste says Batangas engineer’s defense confirms bribery
MANILA, Philippines — After filing charges against a district engineer for alleged bribery, Rep. Leandro Leviste (Batangas, 1st District) shared a list of three infrastructure contracts that reportedly show a handwritten “3%” of the P104 million total contract cost purportedly as a hush payment.
This comes after Batangas’ first district engineer Abelardo Calalo, in his counteraffidavit on Friday, September 5, denied attempting to bribe Leviste, calling the neophyte lawmaker’s claims “a twisting of truth” and part of a “political agenda.”
A picture of the crumpled document features printed text in three boxes, each detailing a flood control or road improvement contract. Below the boxes, it lists by hand the approved budgets, which total P104.23 million.
It also states 3% of the total, which is about P3.12 million. This was the same amount reportedly recovered by authorities when Leviste called the police to have Calalo arrested.
RELATED: DPWH engineer nabbed for P3.1-M bribe attempt on Batangas lawmaker
In his official statement, Leviste said that Calalo’s defense only confirmed the scale of irregularities in his district.
“DE’s [district engineer] defense is that what he was offering me were ‘donations’ from contractors, which he admits could be as high as P360 million,” Leviste said.
The lawmaker mentioned that the three contracts were awarded to TopTech Trading & Construction Co. Inc., a firm owned by Elrey Jose Noche of Lemery, Batangas, who, he added, had since left the country.
Leviste also noted that Calalo failed to mention in his affidavit that he had named another contractor “willing to give an initial P15 million” and spoke of “many others” ready to send support.
“DE [district engineer] should not divert attention away from the contractors,” Leviste said, stressing that Calalo, as district engineer, should simply admit the “long list of names of other contractors and proponents” involved in unfair bidding practices in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
RELATED: DPWH engineer nabbed for P3.1-M bribe attempt on Batangas lawmaker
Arrest and charges
Authorities said Leviste contacted police after the engineer offered him the cash, leading to Calalo’s arrest.
The district engineer posted bail of P150,000 on August 28 for alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and corruption of public officials.
The case has put a spotlight on bidding practices in Batangas’ DPWH district office, with Leviste calling on Calalo to name contractors allegedly involved in questionable deals.
RELATED: No real DPWH bidding in Batangas district, engineer tells Leviste
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