Party-list solon tagged in ‘pre-ordering’ P20-B gov’t contracts

Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste on Wednesday accused CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola of allegedly pre-ordering P20 billion worth of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) contracts before the P6.325-trillion 2025 national budget was enacted into law.

Leviste based his allegations said on a list dated August 30, 2024, purportedly sourced from the office of then DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral. 

He said the list includes allocations for the following projects in Batangas First District, which Leviste now represents in Congress: 

• P514.25 million for roads in Tuy, Batangas awarded to Readycon Trading and Construction Corporation (Readycon); and
• P280 million for roads in Calatagan, Batangas awarded to S-Ang Construction & General Trading, Inc. (S-Ang) 

CWS (Construction Workers Solidarity) party-list, which Gardiola represents, supposedly advocates for the welfare of construction workers and their families.

“While S-Ang is owned by members of Gardiola’s family, Readycon is not, but the project was proposed by and implemented for Gardiola, according to officials of the DPWH and Gardiola himself,” Leviste said.

“This (piece of) evidence could be the missing link for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the Ombudsman to establish that Gardiola made arrangements to rig bids in the DPWH,” Leviste said.

Leviste said that based on his office’s research, companies named to Gardiola’s family members have won an estimated P42 billion in DPWH projects from 2001 to 2025. 

Roughly one-third of government contracts in Batangas’ First District were awarded to companies whose officials are identified as Gardiola’s family members, Leviste said.

Members of the ICI visited Leviste’s office in Congress on Wednesday to go over the list as part of their investigation. 

GMA News Online is still seeking a comment from Gardiola and will publish them once they become available.—MCG, GMA Integrated News