Instead of focusing on road locations or project timelines, Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste anchored his latest move on the scale of government contracts awarded to a cluster of construction firms, prompting him to seek a formal congressional inquiry.
Leviste filed a resolution asking the House to investigate infrastructure projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways involving Bicol Goldrock Construction, GCI Construction, and other companies linked to Steve and Gigi Ibasco. The measure also raises concerns about alleged insertions in the proposed 2025 national budget attributed to Bicol Saro party-list.
Citing official DPWH data, Leviste said firms associated with the Ibasco family secured more than P42.3 billion worth of contracts across the Bicol region, along with over P4.6 billion in projects within his own district in Batangas. He added that a presentation before the Senate finance committee identified GCI as the leading contractor for the Department of Agriculture’s farm-to-market road program in 2024.
“GCI/Bicol Goldrock are actually the top DPWH contractor in my district. They are also the top contractor in Cong. Ridon’s province of Camarines Sur and have reportedly built some of the most overpriced and substandard roads in the country, so I thank Cong. Ridon for bringing attention to the Ibasco family’s projects,” Leviste said in a statement.
Leviste further alleged that documents from the office of the late DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral place several Ibasco-linked projects under what was labeled the “CENTI2025” list, which he described as a pool of initiatives suspected to be pre-arranged or “parked” for certain contractors. According to Leviste, of the P954.9 million worth of projects listed for Batangas’ first district, P440.6 million were awarded to Ibasco-owned companies, while P514.3 million went to firms linked to CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola.
He also claimed that records show Bicol Saro party-list proposed P150 million in road projects during deliberations on the 2025 DPWH budget, with one package later awarded to Bicol Goldrock for P73.5 million, or roughly two percent below the approved allocation.
In response, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon rejected the allegation that he influenced the 2025 budget, saying he only returned to Congress in June. “So how would I be able to make insertions to the 2025 budget if I am not yet a congressman when this budget was crafted in 2024, under the 19th Congress?” Ridon said.
Leviste countered that while Ridon himself was newly seated, Bicol Saro party-list was already represented in the 19th Congress. He insisted that questions surrounding the alleged insertions could be addressed through a formal inquiry by the House committee on public accounts, adding that Ridon should step down as committee chair to avoid any conflict.
“We can get to the bottom of this if he convenes a public accounts hearing,” Leviste said.
“Congressman Ridon shouldn’t hide Bicol Saro Party-list’s insertions, whether for 2025 or 2026, if his party-list truly has no relationship with the Ibasco family, who own Bicol Goldrock and won the projects they proposed. To conduct an impartial investigation on the Ibasco companies and the insertions in the 2025 DPWH budget, I call on my colleagues to remove Cong. Ridon as chair of the House committee on public accounts,” he added.
Separately, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson asked Leviste to clarify remarks made in media interviews suggesting that all incumbent senators, including Sen. Loren Legarda, were involved in budget insertions. Lacson said such claims should be confined to senators who were either holdovers or term-limited during the 19th Congress, when the Senate was under the leadership of Sen. Francis Escudero.
