What DPWH engineer told Leviste before arrest for bribe try

EXPOSED ATTEMPT Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste speaks to reporters on Tuesday regarding the criminal complaint he filed against district engineer Abelardo Calalo of the DPWH. Calalo (right photo) is accused of direct bribery, among other crimes, for allegedly offering the lawmaker a P3-million “cut” in DPWH contracts. —PHOTOS BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines — The alleged attempt of a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer to bribe Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste last week may have provided a glimpse into the backroom dealings that go on behind infrastructure projects across the country—from public biddings being rigged to kickbacks of “5 to 10 percent” being allotted per congressman.

A stark example came to surface in the criminal complaint Leviste filed on Tuesday against Abelardo Calalo, the DPWH engineer arrested on Aug. 22 for allegedly offering the lawmaker a bribe of about P3 million in cold cash.

READ: Batangas district engineer may turn state witness, Leviste says

The complaint, filed at the Batangas Provincial Prosecutors’ Office, accuses Calalo of direct bribery, corruption of public officials, as well as violations of the antigraft act and the code of conduct for public officials.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Leviste said Calalo was arrested by the Taal municipal police while the two of them were in a meeting, in which Calalo offered to give the lawmaker a cut in certain government contracts.

Wider corruption

Leviste said Calalo spoke of “several contractors” who wanted to meet with him and were willing to offer him 5 to 10 percent of their project costs.

The congressman declined to name the contractors, saying only that they were mostly businessmen who had “cornered the lion’s share of the projects” in his district.

More than 20 contractors have been accredited in the district, but only a few consistently bag the biggest projects, he said.

Calalo supposedly told Leviste that these contractors “were happy with my programs on education and that they wanted to send me ‘support.’”

When arrested, Calalo was caught carrying P3,126,900 in cash, which he had brought to Leviste in a light green bag.

According to Leviste, the money was from a contractor who had reportedly won contracts for three projects worth P104 million in total. The cash brought by Calalo was equivalent to about 3 percent of that sum.

One of the contracts won by the contractor involves a river protection project along the Binambang, Palico and Pansipit rivers. When Leviste personally inspected the site on Monday, three days after Calalo’s arrest, he found that portions of the river wall had already collapsed due to a recent typhoon, suggesting poor workmanship.

Leviste stressed that the issue brought to light by Calalo’s arrest went beyond the P3.1-million payoff.

Contractors in the district, he said, set aside more than P300 million a year as “SOP”—a code word for kickbacks—for whoever is the sitting congressman.

“There was another contractor who was willing to withdraw P15 million for me the very next day,” Leviste said, quoting the arrested engineer. “Had I agreed with him (Calalo), I would have met with the contractors later this week and they would have given me millions in DPWH kickbacks from the P3.6-billion projects that were awarded to them.”

The projects covered not only flood control works but other infrastructures such as roads, he noted.

NOT THE BEST OF BATANGAS INFRA The riverbank protection project of the DPWH along the Binambang River in Balayan, Batangas, was damaged as a result of a recent storm, according to Rep. Leandro Leviste. The lawmaker said the project’s contractor was the source of the P3-million “bribe” that a DPWH engineer tried to offer him last week. Photos taken on Tuesday.

The lawmaker said Calalo’s case should spur investigations in other congressional districts or local government units.

Rigged bidding

“We all know that this practice is not limited to the first district of Batangas. Other districts across the country have the same system. It just so happens that the congressman of the 1st district of Batangas does not accept SOP,” said Leviste.

(A son of incumbent Sen. Loren Legarda, the 32-year-old Leviste rose as a businessman prior to entering politics. He has been considered the country’s youngest billionaire thanks to Solar Philippines, the company he founded in 2013.)

Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan confirmed on Monday that several district engineers nationwide are under investigation for alleged irregularities.

“At the same time, I was told that there is no real bidding in many DPWH projects, at least in the first district, because the congressman is usually the one who chooses the contractor [who “wins” the project],” Leviste added.

Offer to turn state witness

Still, Leviste said he had asked Calalo to consider turning “state witness” to help the government go after other contractors dangling hefty bribes.

“I don’t want to belittle the crimes that have been committed because there are laws that we must follow. But I’m just putting context also, especially now that the public is very interested in ongoing investigations into DPWH projects, that there are actually people who are more guilty than DPWH employees,” he said.

“If we really want to achieve our goal of reducing corruption in the DPWH, then their employees must not be the only ones to answer [for] these. I believe with the help of state witnesses, we can catch a bigger fish,” he added.

Calalo, upon hearing the offer to turn state witness, “seems overwhelmed at the moment…so I am hoping that he could reflect on this and this could be his public service.”

“I wish that Calalo would open his mind along with other DPWH employees and contractors to become state witnesses so that together, we can hold accountable those who truly benefited from the system of corruption within the DPWH,” he said. /cb