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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Leviste makes last-ditch appeal for Dizon to end kickback culture in DPWH

Leviste makes last-ditch appeal for Dizon to end kickback culture in DPWH

Published Oct 9, 2025 06:06 pm

At A Glance

  • Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste refuses to let up on his quest to nip corruption in the bud over at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), where the flood control project anomalies arguably started.
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Facebook)
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Facebook)


Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste refuses to let up on his quest to nip corruption in the bud over at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), where the flood control project anomalies arguably started.
In a privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, Oct. 9, Leviste--the young solon who couldn't be bribed by a district engineer in his province--reiterated once again his call for DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to slash the price of the agency’s projects by 25 percent.
This was after Leviste posted a open letter to Dizon, asking him to do the same in a bid to save the government P400 billion and more importantly eradicate systemic kickbacks in the DPWH.
“In the time of DPWH Secretary Babes Singson, he lowered prices by 10 percent before approving projects. Secretary Dizon has committed to do the same, but overpricing is now even worse," the Batangas lawmaker said in plenary.
"We call on him to lower prices by 25 percent, which we will support in Congress, so that our country can save P400 billion. Let’s not just lower it by 10 percent and leave 15 percent, let’s lower it by a full 25 percent and end kickbacks in DPWH," he added.
Dizon took over as DPWH head honcho from Manuel Bonoan last Sept. 2 specifically to rid the agency of corruption.
Leviste claimed that the kickback system is driven by the DPWH itself.
“DPWH computes the prices, bids and implements projects, and even if a congressman is not involved, district engineering offices still rig bids, handpick contractors and collect kickbacks instead of the Congressman. That’s why the solution should start from within DPWH itself,” he said.
“I commend Secretary Dizon for his steps to clean up DPWH. Corruption won’t be solved overnight, but if he wants to cut kickbacks immediately, he can lower prices by 25 percent. I pray that he will do the right thing for our country,” Leviste added.
He repeated his call to Dizon ahead of the expected second reading passage of the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 budget this Friday, Oct. 10.
Action on the part of Dizon will send a clear message that "real change has come to DPWH", Leviste said.
In the same speech, Leviste also welcomed the House Budget Amendments Review Sub-Committee's (BARSc) approval for the funding of 25,000 new classrooms in 2026.
He said the savings from lowering the prices of DPWH projects could fund the remainder of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) estimated 165,000 classroom shortage.
“Let’s fund classrooms instead of kickbacks, and use the savings from overpriced projects to strengthen our education sector,” Leviste said.
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