Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is ready and willing to release the alleged list of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) insertion proponents for all Filipinos to see and examine.

But he wants the go signal to come from DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon himself.

Leviste gave these remarks Sunday, Dec. 21, just days after the supposed source of the list, former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, was found dead in a ravine in Benguet.

"DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral gave me files listing the proponents of DPWH insertions of the whole country on Sept. 4, after Secretary Vince Dizon told her on the phone to release them to me in the interest of transparency," the neophyte lawmaker said.

"Since then, many have asked for the late USec Cabral’s files to be released to the public. I will await the DPWH’s position on this, and I will release them if Sec Vince tells me to," Leviste said.

The billionaire businessman-turned--congressman acknowledged that the release of Cabral's files would have wide-ranging consequences.

"They list proponents of flood control and other DPWH projects from the whole government – not only congressmen and senators, but also people from the executive, including secretaries and undersecretaries outside DPWH, as well as private individuals," explained Leviste.

"So as not to compromise my work in Congress, I would prefer that DPWH be the one to decide on releasing these files to the public," he noted.

Leviste is also personally affected by Cabral’s passing, as mysterious as it is unravelling to be.

"In light of recent events, my immediate concern is that DPWH personnel who have copies of these files are kept safe and that all such files are preserved," he said.

At any rate, Leviste noted that he could release the insertions of proponents "to the extent that I am allowed in Congress as I did on Nov. 19".

"In the meantime, I showed the files to the ICI on Nov. 18 and 19 and to the Ombudsman on Nov. 26, who said the files would be helpful for their investigations," he said.

Leviste shared how he managed to get the controversial list in the first place.

"For context, I had been requesting data on the budget of each congressional district since May. I met with Usec Cabral in her office on June 11 and wrote to the DPWH to follow up on this on Aug. 11," said Leviste.

"When she tendered her courtesy resignation, I worried that files might get lost, so I set a meeting at her office through Director Alex Bote on Sept. 4. To give credit to Sec Vince who had assumed office on Sept. 1, it was because of his push for transparency that I was finally given the files," he said.