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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Legarda Leviste follows through in bribery case vs Batangas engineer

Legarda Leviste follows through in bribery case vs Batangas engineer

Published Sep 16, 2025 07:51 am

At A Glance

  • Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is following through with his bribery case against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Batangas 1st District Engineer Abelardo Calalo.
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Standing) (Contributed photo)
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Standing) (Contributed photo)


Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is following through with his bribery case against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Batangas 1st District Engineer Abelardo Calalo.
On Monday, Sept. 15, Legarda Leviste filed a Reply Affidavit against Calalo with Supplemental Complaint-Affidavit Against Spouses Noche and a Motion to Implead and for the Issuance of Subpoena before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Batangas.
These filings include additional charges on Engineer Calalo and now include the owners of Top Tech Trading & Construction Co. Inc., the contractor of the DPWH projects listed on the piece of paper accompanying the cash brought by Calalo, read a statement from the neophyte solon.
“What Engineer Calalo referred to as a 'donation' included a piece of paper that said the ₱3,126,900.00 cash was 3% of the ₱104,230,000.00 price of 3 contracts awarded by DPWH to TopTech Trading & Construction Co. Inc.," Legarda Leviste said.
"This company is owned by Elrey Jose C. Noche and Marciana M. Noche, whom I have asked the Prosecutor to implead as additional respondents and to issue subpoenas requiring them to appear and submit their counter-affidavits," he said.
“I also mentioned in my affidavits that Engineer Calalo and I discussed the names of other contractors in Batangas who offered to give me up to 5 to 10 percemt from a total of ₱3.6 billion of projects, whom Engineer Calalo avoided naming in his affidavit, including another contractor whom he said was ready to give ₱15 million the next day," added Legarda Leviste.
He says there appears to be vested interests in covering up the system of kickbacks for DPWH projects in Batangas,
He further reckoned that the bag that Engineer Calalo brought with him on Aug 22 was "just the tip of the iceberg".
"I believe that it is part of my job to pursue these cases, and that we should not legalize contractors giving so-called 'donations' representing percentages of DPWH contract prices,” Leviste added.
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