Infrastructure project transparency crusader Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste isn't done with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In a statement Thursday, Nov. 27, Leviste challenged the DPWH to release the database of project proponents in the National Expenditure Program (NEP)--which is the basis of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB)--to prove its commitment to transparency and reform.

“The DPWH has a database of the proponents in the NEP, which they should release if they are truly for transparency. There were ₱721.83 billion insertions for 2025 and ₱496.97 billion insertions for 2026, and I cannot in good conscience watch DPWH claim to be for transparency without pointing this out," Leviste said.

"Sa susunod na presscon ng DPWH, maaari nilang aminin na meron silang itinatago at kargado ang NEP ng insertions hanggang ngayon (The DPWH may use their next presscon to admit what they're hiding and that the NEP is still loaded with insertions up to now)," the billionaire businessman-turned-solon dared the agency.

The executive branch prepares the NEP and submits it to Congress so it may be legislated.

According to Leviste, DPWH may be reluctant to release the full data because it includes projects proposed not only by congressmen and senators, but also Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries and others.

“In fairness to the legislature, hindi lang po congressman at senador ang may insertion (congressmen and senators aren't the only one with insertions),” Leviste added.

“DPWH’s NEP can be said to be full of insertions, because their internal files will prove that projects supposedly from DPWH’s planning engineers were actually proposed by politicians or contractors. These are substantially the same as bicam insertions, but hidden,” Leviste claimed.

Bicam refers to the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings, where House members and senators consolidate their versions of the GAB and make their finishing touches.

While projects insertions aren't bad per se, it's the belief that they facilitate massive kickbacks that have demonized them and created legimate concern from the likes of Leviste.

Last Nov. 18, the Batangas solon told the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) that he obtained files from the office of former DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral detailing the lists of proponents in the NEP.

Leviste noted that the ICI told him that DPWH did not give them these files or any list of proponents, and that Cabral’s office had been “cordoned off” the first time they visited in September 2025.

The neophyte congressman went on to insinuate that the DPWH still makes it difficult for flood control projects mess investigators to access their documents.

“I appreciate the hard work of the teams at the ICI and Ombudsman, but worry the investigations will be unable to uncover much of the wrongdoing in the budget unless the DPWH gives unfettered access to its files,” Leviste said.

It was also last Nov. 18 when the ICI told the solon they have not been given "unfettered access" to DPWH offices or computers.

This lack of documentary evidence on proponents has made it difficult for the commission to link the proponents of projects to the contractors, Leviste said.