MANILA (August 25) – Police have arrested a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district engineer in Batangas for allegedly attempting to bribe 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste to stop his investigation into questionable infrastructure projects in the province.
In a report to Camp Crame on Monday, authorities identified the suspect as Abelardo Calalo, 51, officer-in-charge of the DPWH Batangas 1st District Engineering Office and a resident of San Pablo City, Laguna. He was arrested on Aug. 22 in Barangay Poblacion Zone 12, Taal, Batangas.
Batangas police director Col. Geovanny Emerick Sibalo said Calalo allegedly tried to offer Leviste PHP3.12 million in exchange for halting the inquiry.
“We received information about an ongoing attempt to bribe the congressman. We proceeded to the area and caught the person in the act,” Sibalo said in a radio interview. “This was not a usual entrapment operation. Our men acted on reliable information, and the suspect was cooperative. He was afforded due process.”
Police recovered the bribe money, which has been inventoried and will be presented as evidence.
Calalo is currently detained and faces possible corruption charges. Meanwhile, Leviste is set to file formal charges before the Batangas Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, August 26.
