Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste stood as the lone member of more than 200-strong House majority bloc who voted against the proposed ₱6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 during its third and final reading on Monday.
In explaining his dissenting vote, Leviste lauded the House Committee on Appropriations for realigning ₱255 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to priority programs in health, education, and agriculture. However, he warned that the remaining ₱624 billion under the DPWH could still be a potential “source of corruption.”
“According to former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, almost 100% of all biddings in DPWH nationwide are rigged,” Leviste said during plenary.
“Pagkatapos ng lahat ng mga flood control hearings in aid of legislation, hindi natin dapat aprubahan ang parehong mga presyo sa mga proyekto ng DPWH. Kaya iminumungkahi kong ibaba ng 25% ang mga presyo ng DPWH upang mabawasan ang posibleng 150 billion pesos ng posibleng kickbacks.” he added.
The Batangas lawmaker criticized the department’s control over both project pricing and bidding, alleging that even in cases where lawmakers do not take kickbacks, DPWH officials may still profit from inflated contracts.
“Kahit hindi kunin ng isang congressman ang kickback mula sa mga proyekto ng DPWH sa kanyang distrito, makukuha naman daw pa ng mga taga-DPWH ang kickback mula dito,” he said.
Leviste called on his colleagues to take a firm stance against corruption in infrastructure spending, quoting the line: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
He also appealed for greater budget allocation for Region 4A (CALABARZON), noting that while the region accounts for around 15% of the country’s population and GDP, it receives roughly 10% of the DPWH’s total budget.
“Nandito po ako sa seksyon ng mga kinatawan ng Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon at Rizal, nakikiusap po ako na kung sa susunod na bersyon itong panukalang budget ng 2026, may savings ang mga presyo ng DPWH, sana dagdagan naman ang share ng budget ng mga distrito ng Region 4A,” Leviste said.
Despite his vote of dissent, the Batangas solon acknowledged improvements in the proposed General Appropriations Bill (GAB) and expressed hope that the final General Appropriations Act (GAA) would be even better.
“To give credit to the Committee on Appropriations, the GAB was an improvement on the net. At umaasa po ako na ang GAA ay magiging improvement sa GAB,” Leviste concluded.
The 2026 national budget, which seeks to fund President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s priority programs, was passed by the House of Representatives and is now up for Senate deliberations.
