Probe Bicol Saro insertions – Leviste

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December 24, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste has filed a resolution calling for an investigation on projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with Bicol Goldrock Construction, GCI Construction and other firms owned by Steve and Gigi C. Ibasco.

In his resolution, Leviste is also seeking a probe on insertions in the 2025 budget made by Bicol Saro party-list. He called on Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon to resign as chairman of the House
committee on public accounts to ensure a fair investigation.

Based on DPWH records, Leviste said the Ibasco companies bagged over P42.3 billion in contracts in the Bicol region and over P4.6 billion in the 1st District of Batangas.

Leviste also said that based on a Senate finance committee presentation, Ibasco’s GCI was the No. 1 contractor for the Department of Agriculture’s farm-to-market roads 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.

Citing files from the office of the late public works undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, the projects of the Ibasco companies were of the “CENTI2025” list of projects, which are suspected to be “parked funds” or “pre-ordered’ by contractors.

“Of the P954.9 million in this list for my district, P514.3 million of projects went to Gardiola-linked companies and P440.6 million of projects went to Ibasco companies,” Leviste said, referring to Rep. Edwin Gardiola of the CWS party-list.

Leviste alleged that Cabral’s files show that Bicol Saro party-list proposed P150 million in road projects in the 2025 DPWH budget, later awarded to Bicol Goldrock for P73.5 million, or two percent below the approved budget.

For his part, Ridon said he had just returned to Congress last 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?”

But Leviste argued that Bicol Saro party-list was part of the 19th Congress.

“We can get to the bottom of this if he convenes a public accounts hearing,” the Batangas lawmaker said.

“Cong. 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.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, urged Leviste to clarify his pronouncement in media interviews that all current senators – including his mother Sen. Loren Legarda – had made budget insertions.

Lacson – who re-entered the Senate only last May – said Leviste should limit his allegation only to holdovers or term-limited senators during the 19th Congress, when the chamber then was led by Francis Escudero. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab