A Batangas congressman has formally called on the House of Representatives to pick up where it left off on one of the country's most contentious public works corruption investigations. Batangas First District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste filed House Resolution No. 1169 on Tuesday, June 30, urging relevant House committees to resume their suspended probe into allegedly anomalous flood control projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Later that day, the lawmaker also participated in the rally held at the EDSA People Power Monument, where he called for greater government transparency and accountability.
Resolution Formally Logged at the House
According to official House records, the House Bills and Index Service received Resolution No. 1169 at 11:24 a.m. on June 30. The measure urges the House Infrastructure Committee to take the lead in restarting the congressional inquiry into DPWH flood control project implementation. Should the Infrastructure Committee be unavailable, Leviste's resolution proposes that the Committees on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways, and Good Government and Public Accountability jointly conduct the investigation.
What Caused the Original Probe to Stall
The House Infrastructure Committee had already begun examining the flood control irregularities through hearings conducted in August and September 2025. However, according to the resolution filed by Leviste, those proceedings were suspended on September 24, 2025, after the chamber chose to defer to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which had been tasked to look into the same concerns.
The ICI, however, wrapped up its operations on March 31, 2026, Leviste noted in the resolution. He argued that the commission's closure eliminates the original justification for halting the congressional hearings. The lawmaker further pointed out that no legislation has been passed to create a successor body to the ICI, leaving a significant governance vacuum that he believes only Congress is positioned to address.
Key Evidence Still Waiting to Be Examined
In the text of his resolution, Leviste emphasized that substantial evidence has yet to be scrutinised by lawmakers. He cited documents recovered from the office of the late DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, as well as testimonies from former military officials, as materials that remain unreviewed by any congressional body.
The lawmaker also noted that criminal cases filed to date have been limited in scope, covering primarily the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office and the MIMAROPA Regional Office. This is despite former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo's sweeping claim that "almost 100%" of bids processed at the agency were rigged — a statement that Leviste cited as evidence of a far broader problem demanding wider legislative scrutiny.
Bonoan to Turn State Witness, According to Ombudsman
Leviste's resolution also referenced the Office of the Ombudsman's announcement on June 29 that former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan is set to become a state witness, together with former Undersecretary Bernardo. The lawmaker said that both officials are expected to shed light on the full extent of corruption within the department, making their testimony a critical resource for any revived congressional investigation.
Lacson's Disclosures and the Senate's Ongoing Inquiry
The resolution invoked revelations made by Senator Panfilo Lacson, who disclosed that documents from the late Undersecretary Cabral suggest "at least five Cabinet secretaries and some undersecretaries had allocables and/or non-allocables." Leviste used these disclosures to reinforce his case, noting that the Senate has already acknowledged the need to press forward through its Blue Ribbon Committee hearings.
The Batangas representative argued that the same logic that compelled the Senate to continue its inquiry applies equally to the House. He stressed that Congress has a constitutional duty to maintain its investigative independence and should not surrender that function to executive-branch bodies or other commissions.
Probe Will Not Undermine Pending Legal Cases or Ongoing Reforms
Leviste was careful to clarify, in the body of his resolution, that a resumed House inquiry would not interfere with cases currently pending before the Ombudsman or the Sandiganbayan. He also stated that the probe is not intended to disrupt the internal reforms already being implemented within the DPWH under its current leadership.
On the contrary, the lawmaker argued that additional legislative investigation is necessary to give those reforms a durable legal foundation. He pointed to the 2026 General Appropriations Act and the reform agenda being advanced by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon as concrete policy developments that Congress should reinforce through law rather than leave to administrative discretion alone.
Leviste Speaks at EDSA Rally
After formally filing the resolution, Leviste proceeded to the EDSA People Power Monument, where a public rally was taking place on the same afternoon. Speaking in Filipino, he told the crowd that the gathering "is not just for one group — it is for all Filipinos." He framed his resolution as Congress's opportunity to respond to widespread public disappointment over how the flood control corruption scandal has been handled, and called for the legislature to take a more assertive role in demanding answers from the executive branch.
By the Numbers
- House Resolution No. 1169 — filed and officially received on June 30, 2026
- 11:24 a.m. — exact time the resolution was logged by the House Bills and Index Service
- August–September 2025 — period during which the House Infrastructure Committee held its initial flood control hearings
- September 24, 2025 — date the committee formally suspended its probe
- March 31, 2026 — date the Independent Commission for Infrastructure concluded its mandate
- "Almost 100%" — former Undersecretary Bernardo's stated estimate of rigged DPWH bids
- At least 5 Cabinet secretaries — number cited by Senator Lacson as implicated in Cabral's documents
Why This Matters
The filing of House Resolution No. 1169 represents a direct legislative challenge to the accountability gap that has formed since the House Infrastructure Committee suspended its flood control hearings in September 2025. With the ICI now disbanded and no successor body in place, congressional oversight remains the primary institutional mechanism for probing what former Undersecretary Bernardo described as near-universal bid-rigging across the DPWH. The imminent state witness conversions of both Bonoan and Bernardo, as announced by the Ombudsman, mean that fresh and potentially explosive testimony is on the horizon — testimony that a resumed House inquiry could translate into concrete legislative reforms rather than isolated prosecutions.
Source: Originally reported by BreakingNewsNegros.com / Balita