Leviste: DPWH Dizon's team members either contractors or linked to contractors

Members of the team of Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon are government contractors, if not linked to government contractors, House appropriations panel vice chairperson and Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste said on Thursday.

In a press conference, Leviste said he got his information from fellow members of the House of Representatives.

“What I heard is that it's not him (Dizon) who is a contractor, it is a member or members of his team who are contractors. And how exactly, I am not the authority [to speak on it], but I have been told that this is actually known by many in Congress now,” he said . 

“Then the question is, if it is true that new appointees in DPWH have interests in companies that do business with DPWH. Are we sure that there will be no conflict of interest in the awarding of contracts under the new leadership at DPWH? And why then has this not been previously disclosed,” he added.

Leviste then said Dizon should address this concern, especially amid the crackdown on anomalous government projects.

“Secretary Dizon is very accessible to the media. And I hope then that we can ask him to disclose all of his and his team's connections to DPWH contractors, and if he thinks there are still kickbacks in DPWH, and if he has ever discussed or been offered kickbacks, and if he could share this so that we can all work together,” he said.

Asked if Dizon failed to conduct due diligence in vetting his appointees, Leviste replied: “Actually, you can [do] background check on Google, the new appointees in the DPWH and find that there have been allegations of corruption to them in the past. So I think you can do your own research and it's a bit surprising in the media that this hasn't been questioned yet.”

“I think our country right now is in need of hope and we have seen in Secretary Dizon a possible chance for reform in the DPWH. He will truly be a hero if after this press briefing he will be the one to come clean on all of the connections to contractors of the new appointees in DPWH and all the times he's been offered or they have been offered kickbacks and to lower prices and commit to empty kickbacks in DPWH,” he added.

It was at this point that Leviste received a call from a certain Sir, and whom he later disclosed as a high-ranking DPWH official.

“Basta sir, ang gusto ko transparency and equitable allocation ng budget ng DPWH. Gusto ko, wala nang corruption sa buong bansa. Yes, as I said in the presscon, I really don't know who's the contractor in your team, but if you can ask them and come clean to the public, then that would I think be a sign that there's real change on DPWH,” Leviste told the person he was conversing over the phone.

“I've been talking to a contractor recently. Yes, as I said, I have not even been told who in your team is a contractor. I'm just relaying what I heard. But I think it's unavoidable that DPWH officials talk to contractors,” he added.

In the same press conference, Leviste called on Dizon to disclose the names of lawmakers whose proposed infrastructure projects were included in the P625 billion budget of the DPWH for 2026 or the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“I hope that number one, the past budgets per district be disclosed. And the 2026 budget per district can be disclosed. So that we can see what districts have not gotten their fair share of the budget. The question is, why is there lack of transparency on sharing of this data? Perhaps because when this data is shared along with who are the proponents for certain projects, then the public will have more leads on potential issues on those given projects,” he said.

Out of the P600 billion proposed DPWH budget for 2026, Leviste said there is P400 billion “allocable” meaning earmarked funds for the perusal of the districts.

“This means that there’s P200 billion non-allocable, which the district representatives might not know who is behind. So let's see what this non-allocable is. And there's really no reason for this not to be disclosed,” he said.

“It is an open secret that there is lobbying, that there are proposals for the benefit of districts by politicians. None of us, of course, will deny this because that's what each elected representative tries to do for their constituents, to try and bring in projects for their district. [But] for some reason though, the DPWH denies that politicians make proposals that are accepted in the NEP, even though former DPWH officials admit it,” Leviste added, referring to DPWH denial that there are infrastructure projects proposed by lawmakers during the House appropriations panel deliberations on DPWH's proposed 2026 budget. 

He said such disclosure of projects proposed by lawmakers should not be a problem because it is the job of the members of the House and the Senate to push for inclusion of projects that will benefit their constituents.

“If there's so much scrutiny on insertions in Congress, we should be even more closely examining insertions in the NEP. Again, even members of Congress don't deny that they try to do this for their own district. As I said, it is my job to bring in projects for my district. So it's just in our interest to propose that our district be given more support by the national government,” Leviste pointed out.

“What we're asking for is transparency on the requests that were approved, and then once we see that data, then there could be more scrutiny on why those particular requests were approved. So, moving on, the question is, what is the potential motive for someone not to disclose all this data? Again, I would want more projects in my district as would any congressman. Not for a personal benefit, but for the district's benefit. And I think that it would be good to be transparent then,” he added.

In addition, Leviste said Dizon can show his commitment to reduce kickbacks in the DPWH by reiterating his call to lower the contract prices of the government infrastructure projects by 25% since these 25% are for kickbacks.

“If Secretary Dizon will lower prices by 25%, I don't even need to ask if he has any interest in DPWH contracts.Because anyone who will lower prices by 25% is showing that he is against kickbacks. So I hope that Secretary Dison will be a hero and lower prices by 25% and show that he is against kickbacks in DPWH,” Leviste said.

In a separate press conference, Dizon vowed to act on the information to be given by Leviste.

"I look forward to having a conversation with Congressman Leviste. If possible, give me specifics, names, and circumstances. I will act on it. —with a report from Sherylin Untalan/AOL, GMA Integrated News