Cabral staff say Leandro Leviste forcibly took files from DPWH office; solon denies

Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste forcibly took documents and copied files from a computer inside the office of the late Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral, as well as from the agency’s programming office, some DPWH personnel told GMA Integrated News.

Leviste denied the allegations in an interview.

According to Joseph Morong’s exclusive report in “24 Oras” on Monday, CCTV footage taken in the afternoon of September 4 showed Leviste coming out of Cabral’s office while on his way to the programming office located on the same floor. Cabral was just right behind him. 

In another footage, both Leviste and Cabral were seen coming out of the programming office. It was also seen that Leviste was holding some papers while Cabral was seemingly explaining something to him. 

But some DPWH personnel said that the CCTV did not show how the lawmaker acted inside the two offices. 

Kim (not her real name) claimed that Leviste demanded that Cabral provide the names of the proponents or lawmakers for the projects listed in the General Appropriations Act or GAA of 2025.

When they left the two inside, the DPWH employee said they heard a loud thud from the room.

What happened inside Cabral's office?

“Hanggang sa may narinig kaming kalabog sa loob. So siyempre po si ma’am po may edad na po. Medyo frail na rin po katawan ni Usec dahil sa edad nya, pumasok po kami,” Kim said.

(Until we heard a loud thud inside. Of course, ma’am was no longer young. Her body was quite frail because of her age, so we went inside.) 

“Nakita po namin sa loob parang si Cong [Leviste] po kuha po siya nang kuha ng mga dokumento. Hawak niya po yung phone niya tapos vini-videohan niya po lahat ng mga papel. Tapos si Ma’am po parang, ‘Cong, ‘wag naman. Ano po bang kailangan niyo? Pine-prepare naman na.’ Tapos that was the time na medyo tumataas na po yung boses ni Cong. Ang sabi niya po noon, ‘Bakit may tinatago ba kayo? Public documents lahat ‘to. Dapat hindi niyo ‘to tinatago sa akin. Dapat binibigay niyo ‘to sa akin.’”

(We saw that the Congressman was repeatedly taking documents. He was holding his phone and filming all the papers. Ma'am was like, 'Cong, please don’t. What is it that you need? It’s already being prepared.' That was when the Congressman’s voice started getting louder. He said, 'Why, are you hiding something? These are all public documents. You shouldn't be hiding these from me. You should be giving these to me.') 

There was also an instance when Cabral was allegedly hurt while struggling over the documents with Leviste. 

“Ang alam ko, paper cut,” Kim said.

(I think she got a paper cut.) 

“Pagka pasok po namin naalala ko po, yung kamay ni Ma’am nakaganon. Andaming pong dugo sa damit nya. Yung ibang papel po nun eh merong mga dugo din. Si Cong, nagvi-video lang po, nagtuloy-tuloy lang syang nagvi-video, nagti-take ng pictures. And then doon na po kami nakiusap kay Cong…” 

(When we entered, I remember Ma’am’s hand was positioned like that. There was so much blood on her clothes. Some of the papers had blood on them, too. The Congressman just kept filming; he just continued filming and taking pictures. And that’s when we pleaded with the Congressman…) 

“Hindi naman po si Ma’am masigaw na tao. So parang nakikiusap lang siya kay Cong, ‘Cong, please.’”  

(Ma’am wasn't the type of person to shout. So she was just like pleading with the Congressman, 'Cong, please.') 

Cabral's bandaged hand

In another CCTV footage, Cabral can be seen with a bandage on her hand while talking to someone on her phone. 

A staffer also said that to appease Leviste, Cabral told them that the congressman would be given a copy of the list from the National Expenditure Program and the GAA, which detailed the district funding for the year 2025.

“It does not necessarily mean po na sila po yung nag-propose. Kasi kami pina-plot lang namin kung ano yung nasa official document, kung how much yung napunta sa district na ‘yun sa NEP at sa GAA,” said Juan (not his real name).

(It doesn't necessarily mean that they were the ones who proposed it. Because for our part, we were just plotting what was in the official documents—how much was allocated to that district in the NEP and the GAA.) 

But Juan pointed out that he was not referring to the insertions made by the congressmen.

Moreover, Leviste became impatient while waiting for the documents he requested to be printed. Hence, he went to the office where they were being printed and forcefully copied the files from the computer instead. 

“Sinabi ko naman po na ‘Cong, huwag naman ganito’. Umabot pa nga po ako sa point na sabi ko, ‘Cong, empleyado lang kami, baka pwedeng huwag naman kami idamay,’” Kim said.

(I said, 'Cong, please not like this.' I even reached the point where I said, 'Cong, we are just employees; maybe you could not involve us in this.') 

Frustrating, says Cabral staff

Leviste only stopped what he was doing when Cabral arrived, the staffers said. The Batangas lawmaker only left the DPWH office at 6 p.m. that day. 

Kim and Juan decided to speak up, reportedly because of Leviste's recent actions. 

“The entire time na nagsasalita si Cong, ang iniisip ko patay na yung tao tapos nag-iimbento ka pa ng kung ano-ano,” Kim said.

(The whole time the Congressman was speaking, I was thinking—the person is already dead and yet you are still inventing all sorts of things.) 

“Frustrating lang po na how can someone accuse yung mga ganitong bagay sa taong patay, na parang ginagamit pa nya si Ma’am,” she added. 

(It’s just frustrating how someone can accuse a dead person of these things, as if he’s even using the name of Ma’am.) 

“Definitely, kasi hindi naman po nagbigay si ma’am ng authority eh. I was there the entire time. alam kong walang authority, may authority sa printed, pero meron pa po siyang ibang statement na ina-attribute kay Usec.” 

(Definitely, because Ma'am didn't give any authority. I was there the entire time. I know there was no authority; there was authority for the printed [documents], but he has other statements that he is attributing to the Undersecretary.) 

Leviste denies forcibly taking documents

Meanwhile, Leviste admitted that he went to Cabral's office after he visited an assistant secretary at the DPWH. But he denied that he struggled with Cabral over the documents. 

“I vehemently deny may inagawan akong dokumento from Usec. Cabral at ang tanong ko po, bakit ngayon lang yan sasabihin kung totoo man ‘yan,” he said. 

(I vehemently deny that I snatched any documents from Usec. Cabral, and my question is, why are they only saying this now if it were actually true?)

When asked if he really copied files from the computer, Leviste just nodded. 

 “I hope that the public can see lahat ng direction ko ay para maging transparent tayo sa budget,” he said. 

(I hope the public can see that my direction is toward being transparent with our budget.) 

When further pressed on what kind of documents he got from the computer, he responded: “Basta ang sinasabi ko kay Sec. Vince, wag nang tanungin ano’ng meron ako, ilabas mo kung ano’ng meron ka.” 

(All I’m saying to Sec. Vince is, don't ask what I have, just release what you have.)

Leviste also claimed that what he did at Cabral’s office was approved by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon. He added that he’s not using Cabral's name. 

“All of these were with the authorization of Sec. Vince, kasi muli andun nga po si Usec. Cabral, on the phone naman si  Sec. Vince, wala naman nagsabi sa akin na huwag mong gawin ‘yan,” he said. 

(All of these were with the authorization of Sec. Vince, because again, Usec. Cabral was there, Sec. Vince was on the phone, and no one told me not to do that.) 

No imprimatur to take files, says Vince

But Dizon denied Leviste's claims. 

“Legislative district breakdown, absolutely, pero yung pagnakaw n'ya ng files sa computer, walang imprimatur ‘yun. Yung pagano yung nakipagagawan sya ng papel kay Cabral, walang imprimatur yun, of course not, why would I give that imprimatur?” he said. 

([Authorization for the] legislative district breakdown, absolutely, but his stealing of files from the computer—that had no imprimatur (official sanction). As for him struggling over papers with Cabral, that had no imprimatur; of course not, why would I give that imprimatur?) 

Dizon added that the documents are already with the Office of the Ombudsman. 

And as for why they allegedly did not have the incident recorded in the police blotter or reported to the authorities, Dizon said: “Ibigay ko na kina Usec. Cathy [Cabral]  na huwag ko nang palakihin eh … nagrequest si Cathy sa akin….Ayaw mag-sworn statement eh…natatakot sila nu’n.” 

Dizon also denied that he was validating the documents via email back in 2025, because he had not yet even seen what those documents were. –Vince Angelo Ferreras/NB, GMA Integrated News