Leviste tags firms he says got biggest contracts from 2023-2024 unprogrammed funds

Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste on Wednesday revealed a list of contractors who, he said, scooped up the largest government contracts sourced from unprogrammed appropriations in 2023 and 2024.

Leviste, citing Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) records he got from a supposed DPWH insider, said Sunwest, Inc. bagged P11 billion in contracts, ahead of the second ranked contractor, MG Samidan Construction, which bagged P6.8 billion.

The rest of the top 20 contractors, Leviste said, were:

• Newbig Four J Construction Inc. with P4.9 billion
• Aqualine Construction with P3.55 billion
• Le Bron Construction with P3.41 billion
• D.T. Recio, Incorporated with P3.25 billion
• Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc. with P3 billion
• Eight J's Construction Services with P2.96 billion
• Silverwolves Construction Corporation with P2.93 billion
• Legacy Construction Corporation with P2.88 billion
• Hi-Tone Construction & Development Corp. with P2.73 billion
• Waycon Builders & Construction Supply Corp. with P2.48 billion
• QM Builders with P2.37 billion
• Anore Construction with P2.25 billion
• Alrie Construction Services with P1.96 billion
• Vicente T. Lao Construction with P1.928 billion
• C.T. Leoncio Construction and Trading with P1.89 billion
• Newington Builders, Inc. with P1.75 billion
• JJPR Construction with P1.72 billion and
• STX Enterprises with P1.66 billion

Leviste's office said they received the information from a DPWH insider. It also stressed that the list of unprogrammed appropriations are based on Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs), which are publicly accessible, and that the contractors are identified in the DPWH transparency portal.

Unprogrammed appropriations are budget items that will only be funded if there is excess government revenue collection or other sources of funding such as special laws or loans.

The President, however, is the one who makes the final call on which budget item under the unprogrammed appropriations will be funded once there is an available funding.

Given the nature of the unprogrammed appropriations, Leviste said the proponents of the projects funded by the P213-billion unprogrammed appropriations for 2023 and 2024 should be identified.

"Proponent" is the term for a public official who pushes for the inclusion of a government project under the national budget.

“These top 15 contractors got over 30% of the UA budget. Mabuting makita ng taumbayan ang mga proyektong nakalaan sa kani-kanilang distrito para sa transparency sa paggamit ng pondo ng gobyerno,” Leviste said in a statement.

(The public should know the details of these funded projects per district as a matter of transparency in the use of public funds.)

“Karamihan ng UA projects ay flood control. Ang pumipili ng mga UA projects ay hindi ang Kongreso, kundi ang Ehekutibo, at maraming mga UA projects ay substandard at overpriced, kaya ang tanong: Sino ang proponents na nakinabang sa mga UA projects?” he added.

(Most of the UA [funded] projects are flood control, and the choice of UA projects to be funded depends on the Executive, not Congress. A lot of UA projects are substandard which begs the question, who are the proponents of projects [under UA]?)

Leviste, however, clarified that he is not accusing anyone of any irregularity.

“Wala po akong inaakusa, ako po ay nagtatanong lamang,” he said in a separate press conference.

(I am not alleging anything. I am just asking questions.)

“Pwede ba natin ilabas lahat ng impormasyon tungkol sa sino ang proponent ng mga proyektong ito? At pwede ko bang imbestigahan kung may mga hindi magandang nangyari at kung may mga kumita sa mga proyektong ito?” he added.

(Can we publicize all this information about the project proponents? And am I allowed to investigate if there are irregularities and who earned off these projects?)

Cabral files

In the same press conference, Leviste denied accusations made by people online that he is a plagiarist, and that he could have tampered with the "Cabral files," or the files supposedly of the late DPWH Undersecretary Ma. Catalina Cabral.

“Maraming salamat na lang sa lahat ng mga gumagawa ng mga content tungkol sa akin sa social media. Dahil, muli, ito po ay dahilan na tuloy-tuloy ako may airtime na magsiwalat tungkol sa corruption sa DPWH,” he said.

(I thank those creators who feast on me on social media. Because of them, I get to have my airtime in exposing DPWH corruption.)

“I deny whatever you just said [about me being a plagiarist]. Ang DPWH mismo ang nag-verify ng mga pinost ko sa Facebook,” Leviste added.

(The DPWH verified the files I shared on my Facebook page.)

The Cabral files as shared by Leviste state the allocated millions of budget for government infrastructure projects per congressional districts.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, however, said he never authenticated the supposed Cabral files released by Leviste. — BM, GMA Integrated News