BATANGAS 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste has released Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget distribution figures for 2023 to 2026 amounting to ₱3.5 trillion, supported by uploaded documents provided by the DPWH with the approval of Secretary Vince Dizon.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro yesterday said in a Viber message to reporters: “The Palace will only respond to the documents authenticated by DPWH. Other than these, they will be considered as hearsay or tsismis which have no probative value.”
Leviste said: “USec Claire can confirm with Sec Vince the data, which were provided by DPWH with Sec Vince’s approval. He and I discussed releasing this to the public in September, but I understand if DPWH hasn’t released it yet, because many people on this list have asked me not to release it too.”
He added: “I hope that we can all support Sec Vince’s push for transparency in the DPWH, because we should be proud of the projects in our districts. If a district gets a ₱10 billion yearly budget, the DPWH uses that for projects, and an insertion doesn’t automatically mean there’s anything for the proponent.”
The released data on the DPWH budget includes the breakdown of the ₱401.3 billion “Allocable” budget that can be allocated annually by District Congressmen, based on the files from the office of the late USec Cabral. Leviste said that he would also release more data on “priority projects” funded by Unprogrammed Appropriations.
Leviste also emphasized that the data can easily be verified based on communications from devices from the office of former USec Cabral, her staff, and other DPWH data. He stressed that DPWH can confirm the allocations of each district and Congressman.
Leviste said that he showed files from former USec Cabral to the ICI on November 18 and 19, and to the Ombudsman on November 26, and that both said they had not seen the files before Leviste showed it to them. Leviste thanked the DPWH for turning over copies of the files to the Ombudsman on Tuesday, after public calls for greater transparency on the DPWH budget.
