At only 32 years old, Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste has entered the "billionaire philanthropist" stage of his life, a la American businessmen Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
While this might be jaw-dropping in the Philippines, such a scenario has been seen time and again in the United States (US), where Legarda Leviste studied.
Legarda Leviste is known as the country’s youngest self-made billionaire. He made his fortune with his company Solar Philippines, which he founded in 2013.
"I sold my company I sold a controlling stake in my company in 2024 to Meralco and I've since divested most of my stake and it is perhaps more uncommon in the Philippines but it is more common in the US," the rookie legislator said in a recent press conference.
"For example," the Batangueño said, "Entrepreneurs who divest and become successful already in their careers at an early age in the US commonly then go on to focus on philanthropy like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg."
Gates co-founded software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, is the co-founder of social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms.
Legarda Leviste decided to focus on public service in 2024 after selling a controlling stake in his company Solar Philippines New Energy Corporation to Meralco for P34 billion.
Over the weekend, Legarda Leviste, through his Lingkod Legarda Leviste Foundation, led the distribution of a P1,000 allowance each to an estimated 150,000 basic education students in his district.
The distribution served as a preview of sorts to the potential enactment of Legarda Leviste's House Bill (HB) No.27, or the proposed National Student Allowance Program (NSAP). The bill grants a P1,000 monthly allowance to all students in the entire country.
Candidly sharing his thoughts to reporters, Legarda Leviste said that philanthropic pursuits of helping the lesser fortunate isn't entirely an selfless act. He does get something from it, something the enjoys.
"It is fulfilling to use yung pinaghirapan mo para makatulong sa mga tao sa mga programa na naniniwala ka ay epektibo (It is fulfilling to use your hard-earned resources to help people through programs that you believe are effective)," he explained.
In this regard, Legarda Leviste vowed to continue giving allowances to learners in his district to help them get by their day-to-day needs.
But the bigger picture breakthrough would be the institutionalization of the NSAP. The young solon knows it won't be easy, but he remains hopeful just the same.
"It can be so hard to advocate in Congress that we should approve this budget for this program, but I consider it a privilege that if I believe that something should be done then we at least have some capacity to do it at a limited scale in our own district," he said.
"It can be higher impact if it serves as a catalyst to bring in more support for direct educational assistance," Leviste added.