MANILA — Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon on Tuesday questioned how Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste came into possession of alleged files belonging to the late Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, warning that the matter could expose the lawmaker to ethics proceedings.

Ridon raised the issue after Leviste released allegations of budget insertions against several politicians, including Ridon’s party-list group, based on files Leviste said he obtained from Cabral. Portions of the documents were made public after Cabral fell to her death in Baguio earlier this month.

Leviste has said he acquired the files with the permission of DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, a claim Dizon has denied. An unnamed DPWH worker also told GMA News that Leviste forcibly took the files from Cabral and that she was injured in the process.

Ridon said Leviste must now account for how the documents were obtained.

“From the very beginning, Rep. Leviste has insisted that he had full authority from DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to acquire relevant documents from former DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral. It is on this supposed authority that the credibility of his entire disclosures is built. However, this supposed authority has been flatly rejected by Secretary Dizon himself. What is unraveling today is not the acquisition of the Cabral files based on official authority, but the acquisition of documents based on an unlawful taking by Rep. Leviste,” Ridon said.

“We cannot allow the House to become a venue where evidence is sourced through questionable means and then laundered into legitimacy through publicity,” he added.

Ridon said the acquisition of evidence outside lawful channels and its informal reproduction raise questions about authenticity and reliability, adding that allegations of unlawful acquisition could warrant congressional ethics proceedings.

Leviste earlier released a summary of DPWH budget allocations per district from 2023 to 2026 totaling around ₱3.5 trillion. He said the data came from 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 covered capital outlays for local projects and excluded personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses, and foreign-assisted projects. Leviste added that the documents aligned with the files “FY2023-2025 GAA Summary.pdf” and “FY 2026 DPWH HGAB summary by DEO_LD.pdf,” which were shared by DPWH in response to budget deliberation requests.

According to the summary, the largest regional allocations from 2023 to 2026 went to Central Luzon at ₱406.9 billion, Calabarzon at ₱341.8 billion, and the Bicol Region at ₱272.3 billion, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao received the lowest allocation at ₱28.48 billion.

Leviste also listed districts with the highest allocations in each region, including Taguig 1st District and Quezon City 4th District in the National Capital Region, Ilocos Norte 1st District in the Ilocos Region, Abra lone district in the Cordillera Administrative Region, and Albay 2nd District in the Bicol Region.