Leviste asked to keep silent on P2 million ‘bonus’

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Leviste said he was asked by fellow lawmakers not to publicly disclose the P2 million “Christmas bonus” given to them.

“When I saw the checks, I took a picture of them, which I have. And then they started panicking and calling people to tell, to call me please not to share it to the public. And I’m just saying this to explain that there is so much secrecy about these allowances,” Leviste told “The Big Story” on One News on Tuesday.

Members of the House of Representatives have received checks worth P2 million each, said to be Christmas bonuses, but which the House leadership described as additional funding for Christmas requirements in respective congressional districts.

Leviste said he has photos of checks issued to House members during the voting on the national budget, stressing that he returned his to the House committee on accounts.

“It’s in the committee on accounts because I have said I don’t want that, I will not take it because I disagree with it,” Leviste said.

He said he began questioning the Christmas bonuses for the congressmen as early as October.

“I started questioning this in October, because I was struck, on the day when we were supposed to vote for the national budget was when the one-and-a-half million was given out and they are not saying yet that you will get the money if you vote for the budget, but they timed it also on the same day, maybe because it ensures that there is going to be a quorum,” Leviste said.

Black hole

Meanwhile, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano opted to ignore Leviste’s tirades against him over the authenticity of the so-called Cabral files in Leviste’s possession.

“I don’t want to engage. It’s a black hole. I want to stay focused. Besides, it’s not about us,” Clavano told reporters via Viber yesterday.

In an interview with ANC yesterday, Leviste claimed that a staff of the Office of the Ombudsman reached out to him to apologize over Clavano’s video statement released on Monday.

In his video statement, Clavano belied Leviste’s claim that the so-called Cabral files in his possession had already been shown to or reviewed by the ombudsman.

“They apologized for being inaccurate with what Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano had posted because the video, I think, was perhaps a sudden decision for them to post,” Leviste said.

Clavano, in his video statement, said that “soft copies of documents held by third parties, especially those in the format of Word or Excel (files), inherently lose evidentiary credibility as they are susceptible to alteration, incomplete context or manipulation.”

“As such, these materials cannot, by themselves, be treated as conclusive evidence,” Clavano said, apparently referring to the documents released by Leviste on social media.

Ethics complaint?

Meanwhile, according to House public accounts panel chair and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, Leviste could face an administrative complaint before the ethics committee for forcibly taking flood control files from the office of the late former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.

“The DPWH personnel themselves can file a complaint here in the House ethics committee. And of course any concerned citizen or taxpayer for that matter. On top of that, we can also hold motu proprio proceedings to look into these particular details,” he said.

“What is more important here is the reported claim (of Leviste) that he has the authority to obtain the files. For the longest time, he has been invoking it. But apparently, no less than Sec. Vince Dizon said twice or thrice, flatly denying that he gave any authority to Leviste,” Ridon explained.

“It is very alarming to hear from DPWH personnel saying the files have been taken forcibly by Leviste from Cabral. That alone is a big issue from there. So, we’d like to get more information about that. Maybe we can invite them and shed light on this matter,” he added.

Links to VP Sara

For House deputy minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Vice President Sara Duterte can no longer play clean as the DPWH leaks reportedly link her, her brother Rep. Paolo and lawyer Harry Roque in the budget insertions in 2020.

“Finally, an information from DPWH about allocation that were inserted in the budget during the Duterte administration came out,” Tinio said in a statement.

Tinio said Duterte also has insertions in DPWH projects as mayor of Davao that she has to face.

“This is on top of the P51 billion that goes to Pulong (Rep. Paolo) which was first confirmed by the late Usec. Cabral,” Tinio said. — Delon Porcalla, Elizabeth Marcelo