Leviste steps down as Terra Solar board member

Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste has stepped down from the board of directors of Terra Solar Philippines Inc. (MTerra Solar), an affiliate of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), the company announced Friday.

According to the firm, the board reorganization—effective January 21, 2026—is in line with the company's moves toward commissioning, and the initial injection of energy from its solar farm in Central Luzon into the national grid.

"The board reorganization reflects MTerra Solar's evolution as the project moves closer to commercial operations," it said in a statement.

Leviste was succeeded by MGEN president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Rubio.

"The appointment of Mr. Rubio aligns board leadership more closely with execution and operational readiness, reinforcing governance as the company prepares for large-scale grid integration," MTerra Solar said.

This comes amid the grid cut-in of MTerra Solar's 500-kilovolt substation along the Nagsaag-San Jose 500-kilovolt transmission line, with the first phase expected to start energization this quarter to ramp up to 1,500 megawatts by August 2026.

"This transition marks a natural progression for MTerra Solar as it approaches commissioning. Strengthening board leadership at this stage ensures closer alignment between strategic oversight, system integration, and operational execution as we move toward delivering clean, reliable power to the grid," he said.

MTerra Solar is also a subsidiary of SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC), which has applied for a corporate name change to MGEN Renewable Energy Holdings Inc. in preparation for the potential integration of its renewable energy assets under a single holding company structure.

Leviste founded Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPHI), which was slapped with a P24-billion fine by the Department of Energy (DOE) for failure to produce its power commitments in over 30 service contracts with the government.

'Political attacks'

In a statement, Leviste confirmed that he stepped down as the company’s board director.

"Para hindi madamay sa mga maling political attacks sa akin ang Meralco at iba pang investors sa mga kumpanyang ibinenta ko (Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. at SP New Energy Corp.), ako po ay nagbitiw bilang board director," Leviste said.

(I stepped down so as to spare Meralco and other investors in the companies I sold (Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. and SP New Energy Corp.) from the political attacks directed against me.)

Leviste then quoted a November 21, 2024 speech of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., which read: "'With an investment of over ?200 billion, this demonstrates confidence in the stakeholders in our nation’s potential,' at 'it is estimated that the project will create over 10,000 jobs.'"

The Batangas congressman was referring to Marcos' speech at the groundbreaking of the MTerra Solar project in Nueva Ecija.

In his speech, the President said that once fully operational by 2027, the MTerra Solar project will deliver 3,500 megawatts peak of solar power to the Luzon grid, with 4,500 megawatt-hour of battery energy storage.

Marcos had said the project would energize over 2 million households and reduce carbon emissions by more than 4.3 million metric tons annually.

Leviste said, "In training their guns against me, other people are the ones who will bear the consequences. I hope they will be spared from this mudslinging." — with a report from Llanesca T. Panti/ VDV, GMA Integrated News