The quiet decorum of the legislative chamber was shattered by a powerful and unprecedented denunciation, as Congressman Lean Leviste, the son of Senator Loren Legarda, launched a direct and blistering attack on the leadership and practices within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Addressing the floor of the House, the young lawmaker bypassed typical political rhetoric to deliver an emotionally charged and evidence-backed privilege speech that immediately became the epicenter of a national controversy. His primary target: DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, whose public reform efforts, Leviste argued, were nothing more than calculated “optics” and propaganda designed to camouflage a deeply entrenched and shockingly widespread corruption syndicate that has been systematically looting the public treasury for years. The core of the allegation is simple yet devastating: nearly all government infrastructure projects are compromised, with inflated costs ensuring billions of taxpayer funds never reach their intended purpose.

Leviste’s exposé gained instant gravity from its grounding in internal testimony and specific case studies. He revealed that in the Batangas region, where he serves, the rampant bid rigging is commonly known by the local term “biding-bidingan”—a clear colloquial phrase for collusion designed to fake competition and manipulate contracts. This explosive local term was then juxtaposed with the testimony of former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who reportedly confirmed Leviste’s most chilling assertion: that nearly 100% of all bidding processes within the entire DPWH system are “luto,” a term meaning they are completely fixed or rigged from the start. This collusion is the precise mechanism by which the cost of public works projects is intentionally and routinely inflated, leading to massive overpricing and the systematic embezzlement of public funds. The congressman painted a picture not of isolated incidents of graft, but of an institutionalized, normalized criminal enterprise operating with impunity at the highest levels of the government’s infrastructure sector.

The most politically volatile segment of the speech was the direct, no-holds-barred criticism leveled at Secretary Dizon. Leviste dismissed Dizon’s public appearances and ceremonial actions—such as installing new leadership in a district engineering office—as hollow “symbolic changes” that lacked any real substance or bite against the powerful syndicates. The congressman argued that these high-profile moves were mere distractions, intended to create a false perception of reform while the underlying machinery of corruption remained fully operational. He angrily challenged Dizon to shift his focus from mere public relations to conducting genuine, deep-dive investigations into far more politically sensitive areas, specifically citing the flood control projects in Ilocos Norte connected to another prominent political scion, Sandro Marcos. The implication was clear: Dizon’s efforts were strategically aimed at less politically dangerous targets while avoiding the individuals and families who truly held the power to perpetuate the billion-peso racket, a claim that dramatically amplified the political risk of Leviste’s speech.

To buttress his accusations, the congressman introduced the horrifying mechanics of the corruption scheme, including specific methods of ensuring collusion. He highlighted the Ombudsman’s investigation into a practice known in Batangas as “mananahod,” where losing bidders are allegedly compensated—reportedly receiving a fee of approximately 3% of the total contract price—by the designated, winning contractor. This system ensures that legitimate competition is neutralized, eliminating any chance of true, lower-cost bids. This bid-rigging is made possible because the DPWH district or regional offices maintain the power to pre-qualify and ultimately disqualify legitimate bidders using the pretext of complex documentation requirements. Furthermore, even if an outside contractor were to somehow win a bid, the system allows powerful figures to intentionally create bureaucratic hurdles in project implementation or payment collection, effectively bullying honest companies out of future participation. This institutionalized bullying ensures that only the politically favored and colluding contractors—the members of the “bidding-biddingan” syndicate—have any realistic chance of securing profitable projects.

Having laid out the full, devastating extent of the corruption, Leviste transitioned from accusation to practical, actionable solutions, asserting that ending the bid rigging is entirely within the government’s power. He championed a reform package that centered on financial accountability and transparency, drawing on successful past precedents. He recalled the administration of President Benigno Aquino, during which former DPWH Secretary Babes Singson successfully implemented a necessary, across-the-board 10% reduction in the cost of all DPWH projects, proving that significant cost savings are entirely feasible. Leviste demanded that Secretary Dizon follow this precedent, calling for the immediate re-bidding of all projects whose winning bid price is not at least 10% lower than the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC). He argued that if a private company wouldn’t accept an overpriced bid for a project using its own money, the government should certainly not accept it for public funds.

The congressman then offered several structural and procedural reforms aimed at preventing future collusion. His proposals included introducing a two-step bidding process where contractors first submit only their price, followed later by post-qualification checks. This change would immediately reveal the true, lowest bids, allowing Congress and oversight bodies to scrutinize the difference and decide whether the final contract price is truly competitive. Additionally, he suggested auctioning off projects as a radical measure to actively dismantle collusion and force contractors to continuously lower their prices against one another. Leviste emphasized that with the DPWH planning to bid out approximately 600 billion in projects in the upcoming year, the savings from implementing a mere 10% price cut would be staggering, equating to tens of billions of pesos instantly reclaimed for the nation’s infrastructure and social needs.

In a bold move of self-assignment, the young politician volunteered his service to the powerful Committee on Public Works, offering to leverage his insights and commitment to oversee every single DPWH bidding process nationwide. His final message was a clarion call to his colleagues: Congress possesses the auditing and oversight authority needed to expose and dismantle the entire corruption apparatus. He concluded by asserting that the fight was not just about money, but about restoring integrity, dignity, and confidence in the government’s ability to serve the people. Leviste’s explosive testimony, backed by hard facts and naming the local jargon of the corruption, serves as a significant, high-stakes political challenge, forcing the entire administration, particularly Secretary Dizon, to take a side: either continue the “optics” of reform, or implement the radical, painful changes necessary to end the systemic embezzlement of billions from the Filipino people. The battle for the soul of the nation’s infrastructure has officially begun, and the stakes could not be higher.