Donate

KWEBA ni BAROK

Contractor Infestation at DPWH: Reform Hero Dizon Dodges Leviste’s Hearsay Haymaker – Graft or Grandstanding?

Published by

Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

on

Contractor Infestation at DPWH: Reform Hero Dizon Dodges Leviste’s Hearsay Haymaker – Graft or Grandstanding?
The Full Freak Show Cast: Team Traitors, Contractor Cronies, and Congressional Cash Cow Enablers

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — October 17, 2025

COME, shadowy denizens of Philippine intrigue, huddle close to your screens. It’s Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo here, your cynical scalpel-wielder, slicing into another scandal stew: A congressman hurls grenades at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary’s entourage, alleging contractor infestations amid a P625-billion budget bonanza. Is this a daring exposé purging the graft gutters, or a masterful flip in the eternal tango of political favors? Stakes? Billions siphoned, careers cratered, and maybe—just maybe—a jail cell under Republic Act (RA) 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Watch the drama unfold, or watch the money vanish like mist in a monsoon.

Leviste’s Hearsay Circus: Brave Crusader or District Deal-Maker?

Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, vice chairperson of the House appropriations panel, storms the stage with bombshell whispers: “What I heard from colleagues” in Congress—members of Secretary Vince Dizon’s DPWH team are contractors or cozy with them. Not Dizon himself, oh no—he’s careful—but his picks. Google it, he sneers; past corruption allegations surface faster than potholes after rain. Conflicts in contract awards? Undisclosed ties eroding trust in the anti-anomalous projects crackdown?

The plot thickens mid-presser: Phone rings. “Basta sir,” Leviste purrs to a high-ranking DPWH official (later outed), preaching transparency, equitable budgets, nationwide corruption purge. Staged spectacle for the mics, or impromptu integrity? He demands Dizon disclose team-contractor links, kickback offers, and lawmaker-pet projects in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP). Bonus: Slash contract prices 25%—because that’s the “kickback cushion” everyone winks at.

Heroic ambush for cleaner governance, or calculated jiujitsu? Leviste’s motives reek of dual edges: As appropriations honcho, he’s eyeing “equitable allocation” for Batangas in that P625-billion DPWH pie—P400 billion district-earmarked, P200 billion shadowy “non-allocable.” Transparency talk, but is it masking a grab for more infrastructure crumbs? In Congress, “fair share” often means “my backyard boom.” Brave stand, or headline-grab to leverage budget battles?

Dizon’s Deflection Dodge: Integrity Shield or Classic Cover-Up?

Enter DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, the reform poster boy amid bogus project busts. Response? “Give me specifics—names, circumstances. I’ll act.” Principled probe vow, or textbook stonewall: Prove it or pipe down? If the team’s pristine, why reactive crouch? Proactive Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) dumps and connection reveals could’ve neutered this early.

Dizon pledges internal purge, prosecutions if proven—kickbacks intolerable, though contractor chats “unavoidable” in DPWH’s daily grind. But appointing Google-tainted vets? That’s not vetting; that’s inviting foxes to the henhouse. Leviste’s “hero” bait: Come clean on offers, cut prices 25%. Accept, and shine; deflect, and suspicions fester. Hiding NEP proponents protects the insertion racket—lawmakers deny lobbying, but ex-officials spill. Why shield if clean? Damage control, preserving the P625-billion spoils system where districts lobby like lobbyists at a feast.

Graft Autopsy: Statutes, Scandals, and Supreme Smackdowns

Time to eviscerate with the law’s cold blade—this ain’t bar gossip; it’s felony fodder. Conflict of interest? RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees), Section 2: Public office is trust; no clashing personal stakes. Section 7(a): Divest or recuse from financial interests in overseen matters. Team moonlighting as contractors? Administrative slam—suspension to sack via Civil Service Commission rules.

Amp it with RA 3019, Section 3(h): Bans financial pecuniary interests in office-related businesses—team ties to DPWH bidders? Intervention for gain, 1-10 years prison, fines, eternal ban. Section 3(b): Kickback solicitation—Leviste’s 25% slash implies bribery’s stench, penalties stacking to 15 years under Revised Penal Code ties.

Procurement perversion? RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) and Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), Section 47: Disqualifies conflict-riddled bidders; officials recuse or rig bids void, blacklisted by Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), Commission on Audit (COA) disallowances claw back cash. Systemic kickbacks? Willful blindness no defense.

Supreme Court specter: In Arias v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 81563, 1989), “good faith” crumbles against deliberate ignorance—favoritism causing injury? Guilty. Mirrors Republic v. Arias
G.R. No. 188909 (2014), DPWH dismissals for contractor misconduct. No “I didn’t know” escape; evident bad faith under RA 3019.

Ensemble of Enablers: Who Pays the Piper in This Farce?

Spotlight widens. Dizon’s crew: Proven links? Administrative axe (RA 6713 dismissal), civil damages for squandered funds, criminal cages (RA 3019, 6-15 years). SALN dodges? Perjury add-ons, fines equaling salaries.

Contractors in cahoots: RA 9184 Section 65 fraud penalties—15 years jail, debarment; RA 3019 accomplices, business burials. Private graft-aiders bite Revised Penal Code Article 210 bullets.

Congressional inserters: Lawmaker projects “job duty,” but hidden proponents veil favoritism—RA 3019 Section 3(e): Partiality injury. COA audits could void allocations, spark House ethics bonfires. The rot: P625-billion budget as congressional spoils, districts hyena-hunting scraps in a system denying insertions while slipping them in.

Endgame Gambits: Probes, Purges, or Presser Fade-Out?

Leviste’s playbook: Evidence or evaporate—Ombudsman complaint with names, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, contract proofs under RA 6770 (Ombudsman Act). House subpoenas for NEP records. Bold: Ally with Dizon on bills. Bluff bust? Defamation under Revised Penal Code Article 353.

Dizon’s counter: Genuine gutting or gloss-over? Ombudsman-partnered probe, suspect suspensions, public SALN/NEP dumps. 25% cuts? Anti-kickback thunder. Stall, and join graft’s hall of shame.

Final Gavel: Disclose, Reform, or Drown in the Rot

Hypocrisy soup, served hot: Leviste’s vague volley and Dizon’s demand dance mask the pork-barrel brawl. No reform—just reputation roulette over billions.

Call the cavalry: Office of the Ombudsman, motu proprio probe those ties (RA 6770). COA, audit NEP shadows, flag like flood fiascos. Dizon, Leviste: Spill SALNs, proponents—or step aside.

Real remedies: Amend RA 9184 for mandatory digital contract ledgers—bidder tracks, proponent names public. SEC-SALN auto-cross-checks, zero-tolerance recusals, GPPB-enforced whistleblower shields.

Else, contractors cackle in the cave. Laws languish unused; republic rots. Stay sharp, sarcasm-armed. Barok signing off.

Key Citations

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

Leave a comment

Hello,

I’m Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

Let’s connect

Join the fun!

Stay updated with our latest tutorials and ideas by joining our newsletter.

Recent posts