Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Agatha Gregorio

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon wants Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste to be “made accountable” for supposedly lying and “doing fake news” after Leviste accused Ridon of making budget insertions.According to Ridon, there is “no possibility” for him to have made the insertions in the 2025 budget as he was not part of the 19th Congress.“Ang original sin niya, he made a grave accusation of insertions on myself. It was never Bicol Saro. So he has to be made accountable for that. Kaya ang sinasabi ko in all the other interviews, ‘yung mga sinasabi pong mga either proposal, amendments, insertions, katulad ng sinasabi po niya, that can be checked in due course. But today, he needs to be made accountable for making a false accusation that I made an insertion in the 2025 budget. Tapusin muna natin ‘yun bago tayo lumawig dun sa iba pang mga bagay,” Ridon told the media.In a post on Facebook, Leviste said his earlier statement was about insertions made by the Bicol Saro party-list and not Ridon.Leviste added, Ridon “should check with his party-list” on road projects worth P150 million in Camarines Sur, adding a public accounts committee hearing should be done to tackle this.“Media should not allow Ridon to evade the allegation by saying it’s his partylist’s and not his, and he was also already a member of Bicol Saro at that time. We can get to the bottom of this if he convenes a Public Accounts hearing,” the post reads.But Ridon stressed, Leviste attributed the insertions to him according to transcripts of show interviews the latter lawmaker had done.“Well, nakita ho natin talaga. And I&#x27;ve read the transcript already of the two shows where he said na it was actually me who made those insertions. Una, super sinungaling si Congressman Leviste. At pangalawa, fake news ‘yung sinasabi niya na meron po kong insertions for the 2025 national budget,” Ridon said.When asked about the possibility of filing an ethics complaint against Leviste, Ridon said this as well as filing of charges “can come in time,” and Leviste must first “take stock of what he actually said.”“We will leave it to him on what he wants to do. Pero again, he cannot make new stories kung hindi niya talaga lilinawin na talaga nag-fake news po siya, na he made a false accusation against me. Kasi it goes into his actual credibility to conduct all of these things,” Ridon said in response to a question on whether or not a public apology and retraction would be enough to solve the issue.<div> </div><div>RESIGNING FROM COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP ‘OUT OF THE QUESTION’</div>Resigning as chairperson of the House Committee on Public Accounts is also “out of the question,” Ridon said following Leviste’s call for resignation to make way for an investigation.“We have been firm and fair, and there&#x27;s no reason for me to actually resign on the matter. But if he would want me to recuse, kung ‘yan po ang gusto niyang gawin, if we will do an investigation for example, on ;yung sinasabi niya ng Bicol Goldrock, I think wala naman yung problema doon. Pero I think resignation is out of the question,” Ridon said.Leviste earlier posted a statement saying he would file a resolution for the House of Representatives to investigate the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects of companies owned by Steve and Gigi Ibasco as well as the firms’ connections to the Bicol Saro party-list.“Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste is today filing a resolution for the House to investigate the DPWH projects of Bicol Goldrock Construction, GCI Construction, and other companies owned by Steve and Gigi C. Ibasco, as well as the insertions of Bicol Saro Partylist and their connection with Ibasco companies. Leviste also called on Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon to resign as Chair of the House Committee on Public Accounts to make way for the investigation. Based on DPWH records, the Ibasco companies have been awarded over ₱42.3 billion in contracts in the Bicol region and over ₱4.6 billion in contracts in the 1st District of Batangas,” the post reads.Ridon said Leviste is free to file such a resolution, and the House Committee on Public Accounts chairperson would not put a stop to this.<div> </div><div>RIDON QUESTIONS AUTHORITY GIVEN TO LEVISTE FOR CABRAL VISIT</div>Ridon also spoke of wanting confirmation from DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon on whether or not Leviste was truly given authority to visit former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral’s office.“May mga nabalitaan lang po tayo na siyempre bumisita po siya doon sa opisina. Ang sabi niya, he was given the authority by Secretary Dizon. So I think we should ask Secretary Dizon kung talagang in fact authority was given by him to Congressman Leviste na makuha po ‘yung files po mula kay Undersecretary Cabral. I think ‘yun ‘yung first step na kailangan pong mangyari,” Ridon said.Additionally, the Bicol Saro party-list lawmaker again stressed the need for Leviste to disclose an alleged list of proponents involved in multi-billion peso infrastructure budget insertions coming from Cabral.

When asked about the possibility of filing an ethics complaint against Leviste, Ridon said this as well as filing of charges “can come in time,” and Leviste must first “take stock of what he actually said.”

When asked about the possibility of filing an ethics complaint against Leviste, Ridon said this as well as filing of charges “can come in time,” and Leviste must first “take stock of what he actually said.”

Ridon wants Leviste accountable for allegedly lying, ‘fake news’ in allegations

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Ridon wants Leviste accountable for allegedly lying, ‘fake news’ in allegations

Agatha Gregorio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 23, 2025 05:57 PM PHT

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House of Representatives

budget insertions

Terry Ridon

Leandro Leviste

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