MANILA — Malacañang said it is the responsibility of Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste to prove the authenticity of budget-related documents he claims came from late Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.

The Palace issued the statement a day after Leviste challenged Palace Press Officer Claire Castro to verify with Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon the legitimacy of documents allegedly listing officials who inserted billions of pesos worth of projects into the 2025 national budget.

“Why should this representation prove the alleged ‘Cabral’s files’ he claims to possess? He has started bragging about them, so it is his responsibility to prove their authenticity. Why should he shift his responsibility to others?” Castro told Palace reporters in a statement.

“We are not even aware if what he is in possession of are mere altered or fabricated documents. So, before anyone speaks and accuses someone, they should substantiate their claims with verified facts and documents,” she added.

Castro, a lawyer, said Leviste should not shift the burden of proof for his allegations to others.

Leviste earlier claimed that the DPWH budget ballooned to P3.5 trillion in the 2025 national budget, alleging that several House members and all senators, including his mother Senator Loren Legarda, were involved in project insertions.

Some lawmakers have denied the allegations and urged Leviste to prove the authenticity of the documents he said he obtained from Cabral, who was in charge of the DPWH annual budget and was found dead near the Bued River in Benguet last week after reportedly falling off a cliff.

Leviste recently released a summary of DPWH budget allocations per district from 2023 to 2026 amounting to about P3.5 trillion. He said the data came from the DPWH with the approval of Secretary Dizon and included files originally in the possession of Cabral.

“Narito po ang summary ng DPWH Budget per District ng 2023-2026. Dito po makikita kung saan napupunta ang DPWH budget na humigit-kumulang P3.5T, na katumbas ng P130,000 kada pamilyang Pilipino,” Leviste wrote on Facebook.

He said the figures cover capital outlays for local projects and exclude personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses, and foreign-assisted projects. Leviste added that the documents align with files titled “FY2023-2025 GAA Summary.pdf” and “FY 2026 DPWH HGAB summary by DEO_LD.pdf,” which were shared by the DPWH in response to budget deliberation requests.

The summary showed that the highest regional allocations from 2023 to 2026 went to Central Luzon at P406.9 billion, Calabarzon at P341.8 billion, and the Bicol Region at P272.3 billion, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao received the lowest allocation at P28.48 billion.

Leviste also identified districts with the largest allocations, including Taguig 1st District at P18.43 billion and Quezon City 4th District at P14.17 billion in the National Capital Region, Ilocos Norte 1st District at P42.39 billion, Abra lone district at P41.66 billion, and Albay 2nd District at P44.10 billion.

He thanked Dizon and the DPWH for promoting transparency, saying the department is responsible for implementing projects and that large allocations do not automatically benefit individual lawmakers.

The release renewed a dispute with Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon, whom Leviste had earlier accused of inserting a P150-million road project for Camarines Sur in the 2025 budget. Ridon denied the allegation, saying he was not part of the 19th Congress when the budget was crafted.

“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,” Ridon told reporters, rejecting calls to resign as chair of the House Committee on Public Accounts.

Leviste later clarified on Facebook that his statement referred to the Bicol Saro party-list, not Ridon personally, and called for a Public Accounts Committee hearing on road projects in Camarines Sur.

“It is clear, Bicol Saro party-list is part of the 19th Congress, and it’s not really an accusation…every Congressman has a submission to the DPWH budget,” Leviste said, adding that budget allocations per district do not automatically benefit project proponents.