Neophyte solon Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste found himself in the proverbial eye of the storm during plenary session Tuesday, May 5 after he irked several of his much older and more seasoned colleagues with his insinuations of impropriety.

A quick headcount showed that Leviste offended--or at the very least agitated--the likes of Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-Jay" Suarez, Deputy Speaker Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin, Senior Deputy Minority Leader Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon.

It all started when the billionaire businessman-turned-Batangas solon stood on "a point of personal and collective privilege in response to a comment made by ES (executive secretary) Ralph Recto".

"I rise on a point of personal and collective privilege matapos akong tawaging ni executive Ralph Recto na baliw. Kung baliw man ako, at least hindi ako magnanakaw. Tila affected si Recto sa mga post ko tungkol sa kanya at si Congressman Edwin Gardiola. At mabuti kung magpaliwanag na lang siya tungkol dito," Leviste said.

(I rise on a point of personal and collective privilege after being called crazy by executive Ralph Recto. If I am crazy, at least I am not a thief. Recto seems affected by my posts about him and Congressman Edwin Gardiola. It would be better if he simply explained himself regarding this.)

Gardiola, a Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS) Party-list nominee, has been Leviste's favorite punching bag of sorts when it comes to the flood control projects corruption scandal. Both are Batangueños.

Leviste, 33, has since called out Recto, another Batangueño and the husband of incumbent Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto.

First to speak up against Leviste was his fellow neophyte, Batangas 6th district Rep. Ryan Recto, who is the Recto couple's son. Naturally, Rep. Recto defended his parents, particularly his father, from his province-mate's attacks.

"Hindi po dapat ginagamit ang plenaryong ito upang lahat ng mga haka-haka o paratang na walang sapat na basehan (This plenary should not be used to entertain mere speculations or accusations without sufficient basis)...on the alleged ties between congressman Edwin Gardiola and Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, their association is purely professional as Congressman Gardiola is also a member of the House of Representatives and a fellow Batangueño," he said.

Rep. Recto added tha there were "no personal interests involved". "Walang katotohanan ang mga alegasyon ni Congressman Leviste na mayroon silang--may mga maanomalyang transaksyon. Fake news po yan, Mr. Speaker."

(There is no truth to Congressman Leviste’s allegations that they have anomalous transactions. That is fake news, Mr. Speaker.)

In between Leviste's rant--which switched to the topic of election funding and spending--he mentioned in passing the name of Suarez, who was present in plenary. With this, presiding officer Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega gave the solon the opportunity to respond.

"I found it a little bit offensive that all of a sudden, a dear colleague of mine would call out my name during his collective and personal privilege," said Suarez, whom Leviste asked regarding campaign expenditures in his province as a form of reference.

Leviste said, "Sa campaign sorties, nakikita natin na may gastos. At ang punto ko ay tila si Cong Gardiola ay may ginastos para sa campaign sorties ng Vilma at Lucky sa Batangas."

(In campaign sorties, we see that there are expenses. And my point is that Congressman Gardiola appears to have spent for the campaign sorties of Vilma and Lucky in Batangas.)

Suarez responded to his younger colleague by saying that plenary wasn't the proper venue to address allegations of camapign or election irregularities.

"Were the proper cases filed in Comelec (Commission on Elections)? [Was an] ethics complaint filed in Congress? Why are we now standing here insinuating all sorts of illegal acts that happened in 2025, when so much time has passed? Now I question Mr. Speaker the timing of all of this," he said.

"Now I even find it a little bit offensive na pati ako, babanggitin? (that you would even mention me) But I'll tell you one thing, Congressman Leviste. Maayos kami sa Quezon, wala kaming problema dun (We're doing good in Quezon, we don't have problems there)," Suarez added.

Vote-buying 

Leviste, in a raised voice, then went on a tangent and spoke about the prevalence of vote-buying, which he claimed was a familiar topic to his fellow solons.

"Ayokong bolahin ang taumbayan. Lahat tayo dito sa plenaryo ay may kaalaman na talamak ang vote-buying at umaabot sa daang-daang milyon on average, at minsan bilyun-bilyon, ang mga kampanya ng kandidato sa Pilipinas," he said.

(I do not want to deceive the people. All of us here in the plenary know that vote-buying is rampant, and on average the campaigns of candidates in the Philippines cost hundreds of millions, sometimes even billions.)

"Kaya kung sino man dito ang tatayo at magsasabi na kasinungalingan ang sinasabi ko na umaabot sa daang-daang milyon at the very least ang ginagastos ng ibang kandidato na nandito sa plenaryo ng Kongreso ngayon, hindi ako mahihiya na magsabi na sila ang sinungaling at ako ang nagsasabi ng totoo," he said.

(Therefore, if anyone here stands and claims that what I am saying—that other candidates in this plenary spend at least hundreds of millions—is a lie, I will not hesitate to say that they are the ones lying, and I am the one telling the truth.)

De Lima, a former senator, would later take Leviste to task about his sweeping claim.

"During the suspension [of session], this representation approached representative Leviste and I was asking him about his claim, the general claim that everybody in this hall has engaged in vote-buying. So I was telling him, can you please withdraw that particular portion? Because we find it offensive.

"For the record, this representation does not engage in any vote-buying in any elections, including the last elections of 2025," said De Lima, who stressed that allegation "has no basis, it has no evidence, it's purely speculative, is offensive, is unfair to everybody here".

At this point, House Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos intervened.

“Mr. Speaker, while we appreciate the sentiments of the Honorable Leila de Lima, I believe part of what she is espousing with regard to the contents of the speech was already covered by the motion in which parts of the speech be stricken off in which there was no basis in fact or evidence,” Marcos said.

“I understand Mr. Speaker, Mr. Majority leader, but we want it from the mouth of Rep. Leviste himself,” De Lima insisted.

Ortega again recognized Leviste, who went on to say: “First I would like to clarify that I meant that there are some, but not all, and there are many members of Congress who do not violate election laws, so please do not consider that I said that all, and I definitely withdraw that there are…”

A visibly angry De Lima cut him short. “Mr. Speaker, the request of this representation is that is with respect to the withdrawal, is he withdrawing? No need for an explanation."

Before De Lima spoke, Ridon raised a point of order wherein he criticized Leviste's speech for not being related to "personal and collective privilege".

"It has branched out to matters that are outside of it. So I think this particular speech, in its entirety, should be stricken off the record," Ridon said, referring to the addendum on vote-buying, among others.

Leviste objected to this motion, but he was ultimately defeated in a subsequent voice vote wherein the majority of the chamber sided with ridon.

"The motion [to strike off the privilege speech] is now approved," Ortega said.