Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste may face an ethics complaint as questions mount over how he obtained files belonging to the late Public Works Undersecretary Catalina Cabral, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
In a press statement, House Committee on Public Accounts chairperson Terry Ridon said the alleged unlawful acquisition of documents warrants scrutiny under congressional ethics rules.
A TV report cited a DPWH staff member claiming Leviste forcibly obtained Cabral’s files at the agency’s Manila office.
“From the very beginning, Rep. Leviste has insisted that he had full authority from DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to acquire relevant documents from former DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral. It is on this supposed authority that the credibility of his entire disclosures is built. However, this supposed authority has been flatly rejected by Secretary Dizon himself,” Ridon said.
“What is unraveling today is not the acquisition of the Cabral files based on official authority, but the acquisition of documents based on an unlawful taking by Rep. Leviste,” he added.
Ridon emphasized that the House should not become a forum where evidence is obtained through questionable means and then legitimized through publicity.
Leviste had previously used the alleged Cabral files to accuse Ridon of supposed ₱150 million budget insertions for road projects in Camarines Sur, an allegation Ridon denied.