Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste has stepped down from the board of Terra Solar Philippines Inc. (MTerra Solar), the lawmaker and company announced in separate statements on Friday, January 23.

Leviste said he resigned to prevent what he described as political attacks against him from affecting Meralco and other entities involved in companies he has been associated with.

“Para hindi madamay sa mga maling political attacks sa akin ang Meralco at iba pang investors sa mga kumpanyang ibinenta ko (Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. at SP New Energy Corp.), ako po ay nagbitiw bilang board director,” Leviste stated in a post on social media.

In his place, MTerra Solar has installed Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN) President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio.

Rubio’s appointment took effect on Wednesday—an apt change for the company’s transition from project development into commissioning and operations, it said.

“This transition marks a natural progression for MTerra Solar as it approaches commissioning. Strengthening board leadership at this stage ensures closer alignment between strategic oversight, system integration, and operational execution as we move toward delivering clean, reliable power to the grid,” Rubio said.

Recently, MTerra Solar achieved a major milestone with the grid cut-in of its 500-kilovolt substation along the Nagsaag–San Jose 500-kilovolt transmission line. Phase 1 is set to begin its energization this first quarter of 2026, ramping up to 1500 MW by August.