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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Pattern of abuse?' Ridon says Leviste's actions justify ethics case

'Pattern of abuse?' Ridon says Leviste's actions justify ethics case

Published Dec 31, 2025 01:11 pm

At A Glance

  • For Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, his House colleague Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is unwittingly strengthening a possible ethics complaint against himself with his recent actions.
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (left), Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (Facebook, PPAB)
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (left), Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (Facebook, PPAB)


For Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, his House colleague Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is unwittingly strengthening a possible ethics complaint against himself with his recent actions.
This, as Ridon raised "serious alarm" over what he described as the "ransacking" of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Batangas 1st District Engineering Office (DEO) by Leviste and his team in August 2025.
"This incident should serve as further basis for full House ethics proceedings against Rep. Leviste," Ridon, chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, said in a statement Wednesday, Dec. 31.
"The DPWH leadership should submit a full report on the incident—who participated, what documents were accessed or copied, what authority was invoked, and what instructions were given to DPWH personnel by Rep. Leviste and his team," the lawyer-solon reckoned.
It was only last Monday when news broke out that Leviste had forcibly taken and copied documents DPWH budget documents from the office of then-undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral on Sept. 4. Cabral allegedly committed suicide on Dec. 18.
Ridon earlier said that the Sept. 4 incident was enough to merit a case against Leviste before the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
"The fight for truth and accountability cannot dispense with due process and the rule of law. What Rep. Leviste and his team allegedly undertook at the Batangas 1st DEO was an unlawful search operation—conducted without official authority and without a search warrant," said the Bicol Saro solon.
"This was an abuse of official power over the staff of the DPWH Batangas 1st DEO. This is not a small matter that the House of Representatives should allow to pass unnoticed," he said.
Ridon said the twin indicents showed a disturbing pattern from the Batangueño.
"This incident, viewed alongside the allegations of the unauthorized taking of DPWH documents from the late DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral, presents a pattern of abuse of official power by Rep. Leviste," he said.
"House members should be held to a higher standard in the exercise of our official functions. We cannot exercise our powers in excess of our mandate and authority, and beyond the limits of due process.
"This incident provides full justification for House ethics proceedings against Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste," Ridon reiterated.
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