DPWH district engineer arrested over alleged attempt to bribe solon

MANILA, Philippines — A Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer was arrested in Taal, Batangas, last week for reportedly attempting to bribe Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste over P3.1 million to stop the lawmaker’s investigation of the supposed irregularities in the province’s infrastructure projects.

Leviste, in an official statement on Monday, confirmed that he would be filing a case against the DPWH district engineer, whom he identified as Abelardo Calalo.

The lawmaker did not specify the charges but said that he would file them before the Office of the Batangas Provincial Prosecutor on Tuesday, August 26.

The statement did not say if Calalo was the district engineer arrested by the police, as they requested that the name be withheld and only identified him as an alias, “Abe.”

In a separate report, the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) police said the 51-year-old district engineer was collared by authorities in Barangay Poblacion at around 7:45 p.m. on August 22.

Investigation showed that “Abe” offered P3,126,900 to Leviste on the same day he was arrested to dissuade the lawmaker from investigating alleged anomalies in DPWH-led projects in Batangas’ first district.

Police said they conducted an entrapment operation that resulted in the engineer’s arrest.

The purported bribe money was recovered from the engineer.

The suspect is currently under the custody of the Taal police and will face complaints for violating Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code (corruption of public officials) and Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The office of DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan, when pressed for comment on the matter, said that they are “still coordinating with our Region 4A for an official statement.”

Meanwhile, Leviste’s action earned praise from Sen. Panfilo Lacson. 

“My snappy salute to neophyte Cong Leandro Leviste, Batangas 1st District, for the successful police entrapment operation against a corrupt DPWH District Engineer who tried to bribe him with up to P360M in “kickbacks” from infra projects in his district. May his tribe increase,” Lacson wrote in X on Sunday evening.  /gsg