The Office of the Ombudsman has launched a preliminary investigation into renewable energy magnate and Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste and his mother, Senator Loren Legarda, pursuant to plunder and graft charges in connection with a misused exclusive contract on solar power, costing the country “hundreds of billions” in losses.
“Plunder, tapos (Republic Act No.) 3019, 3(h), 3(i), and 3(e). Conflict of interest is one of them,” said Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla during a press briefing on Friday, July 31.
Remulla explained that Leviste secured a ₱10 billion contract to exclusively oversee solar power infrastructure, production, and distribution but failed to provide the promised energy output.
Instead, Leviste allegedly profited off this “solar empire,” Remulla said.
“‘Yung kay Leandro Leviste naman ay mabigat na kaso kasi ‘yung kanilang pagkahawak nang eksklusibo sa solar ay talagang nagdulot ng damage sa ating republika sapagkat ‘di naman sila tumupad sa kanilang dapat tuparin, at hindi nila ginawa ‘yung dapat nilang gawin. Basta’t malinaw na malinaw ‘yung kaso na ang kanilang ginawa ay labag sa batas,” he told reporters.
“Ang laki ng nawala sa ating mga Pilipino sa pagkakasalansan ng solar empire ni Leviste na ang nangyari naman ay binenta lang. Hindi naman talaga tumupad sa pagpapakuryente ng ating republika,” he said.
Remulla said that Legarda was also being probed due to her role in securing the government contract. He reasoned that Leviste, only 21 when he first took over the country’s solar power industry, could not have acquired the government contracts himself.
Legarda, on the other hand, was then the Senate Finance Committee chair, the Ombudsman said.
“Hindi naman makukuha ng 21-year-old—21 lang si Leandro noon—’yung prangkisa na exclusive kung hindi tinulungan ng nanay niya na chairman noon ng Finance Committee ng Senado,” he said.
Contrary to what Leviste might believe, Remulla said, he is not being politically attacked. The case has been examined since November last year, the Ombudsman clarified.
“Masusi naming pinag-aralan ito kasi this is a very novel case. Hindi ito basta-bastang maiisip na dapat gawin, pero pag pinag-aralan mo ‘yung nangyari sa ating energy sector sa Pilipinas, talagang nag-suffer tayo sa ginawa nila,” he said.
Moreover, while the rest of the world was developing its solar power capacities, the Philippines had handed over the reins to Leviste. The Department of Energy (DOE) would not permit projects outside Leviste’s concession, in compliance with the contract, Remulla said.
The anti-graft official cited a 40- to 80-hectare solar field in Cavite that was not permitted a feed-in tariff (FIT)—guaranteed, long-term, and above-market prices granted to renewable energy producers for energy fed into the grid—because of Leviste’s contract.
“Isipin niyo ‘yon, para makagamit ka ng araw, magpapaalam ka sa kanila?” Remulla said.
The Ombudsman said that if there are ghost flood control projects, Leviste was supposedly liable for “ghost electricity.” If his solar farms had produced and supplied electricity, it was of a negligible amount, unlike what had been promised to the government.
In 2013, Leviste founded Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPPHI) before entering law school. It is considered the “largest solar company in Southeast Asia.”
