Garin: Leviste guilty of conflict of interest

MANILA, Philippines —  Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Leviste is guilty of conflict of interest for his failure to divest from the solar power firm that he formed prior to his election in Congress.

“Under the 1987 Constitution, especially as a franchise holder, when you get a privilege or a contract, you should divest. That should be made prior, you can get elected, but before you even sit and take your oath, you should no longer be involved because that’s conflict of interest,” she explained.

Garin disclosed that upon verification with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Leviste remains the owner of Solar Philippines.

Garin cited the Constitution, which stipulated that a senator or a House member should not “directly or indirectly, be interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the government during his term of office.”

“It’s a privilege given by the government to you, that is why there should be no sitting politician/s on those kinds of contracts,” Garin, who slapped Leviste’s firm with a P24-billion fine for failure to deliver a 12,000 megawatt commitment, pointed out.

Leviste, son of Sen. Loren Legarda, however invoked good faith, claiming he has been honest enough to include such ownership in the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth that he filed as an elected House member.

DOE canceled a total of 163 power supply service contracts, totaling 17,000 megawatts, in an effort to “weed out” what they described as “flippers” on their list of energy suppliers, Garin said.

Of that figure, Leviste’s Solar Philippines held contracts amounting to 12,000 megawatts or 60 percent of the energy department projections, Garin said, owing to the fact that such company “failed to meet targets and derailed the agency’s plans.”