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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Leviste tells DPWH to confirm 'whistleblower's' list of Gardiola-linked projects

Leviste tells DPWH to confirm 'whistleblower's' list of Gardiola-linked projects

Published Jan 21, 2026 07:53 pm

At A Glance

  • Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to confirm ₱22 billion worth of alleged projects from Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS) Party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola that was tipped off to him by a "whistleblower" from the agency.
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Facebook)
Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (Facebook)


Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to confirm ₱22 billion worth of alleged projects from Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS) Party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola that was tipped off to him by a "whistleblower" from the agency.
Leviste, in a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 21, described the list of projects as "real" and "credible" despite its unverified status.
"Take it for what it is," he said about the projects list.
"Ang pagbibigay nito sa akin ay galing sa mababang staff na hindi ko na-meet. Nakuha lang yung number ko at pinadala sa akin (This was given to me by a rank and file staff member whom I have never met. They simply got my number and sent it to me)," he said.
In a subsequent statement Wednesday, Leviste said that the document he acquired listed ₱22 billion worth of projects that were supposedly included in the budget through the National Expenditure Program (NEP), unprogrammed appropriations (UA), and Bicam in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
While the document has not yet been verified by the DPWH, Leviste has claimed that it aligns with other DPWH records.
As such, he is asking the agency to verify the document—especially since many of the projects mentioned there ended up being awarded to companies owned by the Gardiola family based on DPWH records.
"I hope actually that DPWH can answer whether it is true that they have records on the proponents of UA ,NEP, and bicam projects. And hopefully these can be used for the other investigations," Leviste said in the presser.
"I'm just posting it, take it for whatever it is. Pero vinerify ko ang mga projects na ito, at ito po ay tunay na mga proyekto na napunta sa kanya (Gardiola). Ito po sa tingin ko ay credible, but take it for it is," said the neophyte solon, who played it safe.
(But I verified these projects, and they are indeed real projects that went to him. In my view, this is credible, but take it as it is.)
"Yung iba dito nasa NEP file ni [DPWH] Usec [Maria Catalina] Cabral, yung iba dito nasa UA list. So consistent siya (Some of these are in the NEP file of DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, while others are in the UA list. So it is consistent)," Leviste said.
"We checked this against our other files and DPWH's transparency portal and if I'm not mistaken, almost al of them are real projects.
"Nag-post po kami tungkol sa mga projects ni Congressman Gardiola last week at ito po ay consistent sa laman ng post ngayon (We also posted about Congressman Gardiola’s projects last week, and this was consistent with the content of today’s post),” he further said.
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