Rowegie Abanto

Rep. Leandro Leviste speaks to the members of the press on December 29, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

1st District of Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste speaks to the members of the press after the ratification of the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed 2026 national budget during a plenary session on Monday, December 29, 2025.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

REP. LEANDRO LEVISTE

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176896887265420251229-20th-congress-leviste-MT16.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Rep. Leandro Leviste speaks to the members of the press on December 29, 2025. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><h2><strong>Also denies owning firm facing P24 billion fine</strong></h2><p>MANILA — Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Wednesday took offense to allegations of &quot;flipping&quot; — a term often used for buying an asset and selling it soon after for a quick profit — amid controversies surrounding his renewable energy firm Solar Philippines.</p><p>Leviste had sold shares of his renewable energy startup SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) — a subsidiary of Solar Philippines, which had won government energy contracts — to Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Meralco for over P13 billion.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/12/mgen-says-spnec-separate-distinct-entity-from-leviste-s-spbc-which-has-congressional-franchise-1445">MGEN says SPNEC &#x27;separate, distinct&#x27; entity from Leviste&#x27;s SPBC which has congressional franchise</a></div><p>Energy Secretary Sharon Garin last week described the move as behavior similar to that of a flipper, which she warned was &quot;detrimental to our country.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Hindi ka puwedeng mag-flip and play with electricity. This is a day-to-day need, this is a public utility,&quot; she stressed. </p><p>&quot;Bibigyan ka ng kontrata tapos gagawin mo &#x27;yong negosyo, you monetize a contract of government, you should not do that.&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;CONTRACT DIDN&#x27;T BAR OTHERS FROM INVESTING IN SOLAR ENERGY&#x27;</strong></div><p>Speaking on ANC on Wednesday, Leviste said, &quot;It&#x27;s malicious to call me a flipper and not describe how the whole power industry works.&quot;</p><p>He also said that getting the energy contracts did not mean that other businesses lost the opportunity to also build solar firms, because he was not given &quot;the exclusive right to do so&quot; and that it was &quot;not to the detriment of anyone else.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It is only if I wanted to proceed on them that I would have the ability to invest in them,&quot; he said.</p><p>Leviste said  that he is under scrutiny for &quot;exposing corruption&quot; in the public works department, a notion that Garin previously denied.</p><p>The lawmaker has obtained documents from the so-called &quot;Cabral files,&quot; which allegedly contain lists of insertions in the national budget as well as their proponents.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/15/energy-chief-says-action-vs-leviste-firm-not-related-to-cabral-files-1055">&#x27;It&#x27;s so unfair&#x27;: DOE chief says fine, contract termination vs Leviste firm unrelated to &#x27;Cabral files&#x27;</a></div><p>The issue came after the Department of Energy slapped a P24-billion fine on Solar Philippines, a firm founded by Leviste, for failing to deliver on its energy commitments.</p><p>The DOE is canceling a total of 163 power supply service contracts, totaling 17,000 megawatts, in an effort to also &quot;weed out&quot; flippers on their list, Garin said.</p><p>Of that number, Solar Philippines held contracts amounting to 12,000 MW or 60 percent of DOE projections, she said, lamenting that the firms&#x27; failure to meet targets derailed the agency&#x27;s plans.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/6/27/leandro-leviste-divests-shares-in-spnec-2116">Leandro Leviste divests shares in SPNEC</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;CONFLICT OF INTEREST&#x27;</strong></div><p>Upon checking Securities and Exchange Commission documents, Garin said Leviste is still the owner of Solar Philippines, which she said could amount to a conflict of interest.</p><p>Leviste, who is the son of Sen. Loren Legarda, was elected representative of Batangas&#x27; 1st District in the 2025 midterm elections.</p><p>&quot;Under the Constitution, especially as a franchise holder, when you get a privilege or a contract… you should divest. Dapat bago ka — you can get elected, but before you even sit na nag-o-oath ka na, dapat wala ka na diyan sa company because that&#x27;s a conflict of interest,&quot; the Energy chief said.</p><p>According to Section 14, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, a senator or a House member should not be &quot;directly or indirectly, be interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the Government... during his term of office.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a privilege given by the government to you kaya dapat walang sitting politician on those kinds of contracts,&quot; said Garin.</p><p>But Leviste argued that the Constitution does not prohibit him from owning Solar Philippines. </p><p>&quot;What is prohibited is to, for example, be in the energy committee discussing matters that affect your company,&quot; he said, noting that details of his shares were included in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.</p><p>&quot;I am transparent on what I own, [and] I refrain from discussing matters pertaining to the energy industry,&quot; Leviste said.</p><div><strong>FINE PAID?</strong></div><p>Leviste meanwhile said his company has already paid the DOE P70 million in fines for contracts that were terminated. He, however, denied that the P24 billion in penalties imposed by the DOE for failure to deliver on energy commitments was for a firm he owns. </p><p>He claimed that he the letter on the P24 billion fine was addressed to SP New Energy Corp.</p><p>“I can categorically say, wala akong kumpanya na nakatanggap ng sulat na nagsasabi na may P24 billion na penalty, at ang SPNEC ay nakatanggap ng sulat na nagsasabi na may P24 billion penalty ang SPNEC. At ang sagot ng SPNEC is hindi siya liable para sa P24 billion penalty,” Leviste said.</p><p>He also denied his firms have “ghost” projects.</p><p>“I am categorically saying I do not have any ghost project because I have not received kahit piso mula sa gobyerno. Ang mga proyekto na nababanggit ay mga planned private investments na hindi itinuloy at ang dahilan nga ay dahil mahirap na kumuha ng mga approvals mula sa iba&#x27;t ibang mga ahensya ng gobyerno,” Leviste explained.</p><p>The Batangas lawmakers also said he is willing to be investigated by House of Representatives.</p><p>“Mag-e-enjoy ako dyan. Dahil mananawagan ako na isapubliko ang mga SALN ng lahat ng mga kongresista sabay-sabay, at tignan natin ano ang mga shares nila sa mga kumpanya na may mga anumang mga kontrata sa gobyerno,” he said.</p><p>Leviste, meanwhile, confirmed that Former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman was an incorporator of Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc., and has “one nominal share”. He added that Pangandaman previously worked as consultant for his mother, Sen. Loren Legarda. </p><p>Asked about possible conflict of interest, Leviste said when Pangandaman served as incorporator of Solar Philippines, she was not employed by the government.</p><div><strong>WATCH</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GVHK4_avU_o?&#x27;&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Wednesday took offense to allegations of "flipping" amid controversies surrounding his renewable energy firm Solar Philippines.</p>

Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Wednesday took offense to allegations of "flipping" amid controversies surrounding his renewable energy firm Solar Philippines.

Leviste tells Energy chief Garin: 'It's malicious to call me a flipper'

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Leviste tells Energy chief Garin: 'It's malicious to call me a flipper'

Rowegie Abanto,

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 21, 2026 12:58 PM PHT

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Updated Jan 21, 2026 06:11 PM PHT

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Leandro Leviste

Solar Philippines

Sharon Garin

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