MANILA, Philippines – Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste is being investigated for “selling” the franchise of his solar energy business to tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan, according to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla. 

In a radio show on DZRH on Saturday, January 10, Remulla assailed Leviste for “flipping” Solar Philippines to Pangilinan after securing a franchise to put up solar microgrids in select provinces nationwide during the Rodrigo Duterte administration. 

“Kasi dapat yun yung franchise ‘di dapat ninenegosyo yun e. Batang-bata binebenta mo yung franchise, wala ka bang kahihiyan? Anong klaseng Pilipino yan?” he said. 

(A franchise shouldn’t be made into a business. He’s so young yet he’s selling a franchise, has he no shame? What kind of Filipino are you?) 

“National franchise, renewable energy, critical to the national life tapos ganun lang? Tapos, ‘bebenta mo, fi-flip mo lang? Nanay mo [Loren Legarda] pa senador,” Remulla said.

(National franchise, renewable energy, critical to national life and then you sell just like that? You sell it, you flip it. And your mother is even a senator.) 

Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11357 into law on July 31, 2019, providing a franchise to Leviste’s Solar Para Sa Bayan Corporation.

Remulla said this was the more important issue than the Cathy Cabral files which Leviste has exposed, adding that the files the congressman has are questionable. 

“Kasi marami s’yang ibang problema e. Yung  prangkisa n’ya ineembistiga na ngayon e… Yung ang pagusapan muna natin, bago ang lahat,” he said. 

(He has other problems. His franchise is being investigated now… That’s what we should talk about first before anything else.)

“Mas mabigat na isyu yung sa franchise n’ya. Remember, walang consent ang Congress sa transfer ng franchise na ‘yan. Critical ‘yan.”

(His franchise is a bigger issue. Remember, there’s no consent from Congress for the transfer of the franchise. That’s critical.) 

Remulla also alleged that Leviste’s companies have a total of “84 cancelled [solar energy] contracts so far,” with significant impact on the country’s energy outlook. 

“Can you imagine the effect on the national energy situation. Sasabihin mo eto na ang forecast natin sa energy, andyan ang DOE [Department of Energy], naniniwala sayo, yun pala drawing lang,” he said.

(Can you imagine the effect on the national energy situation? You give a forecast on energy, the DOE is there, it believes you and then it turns out to be just a drawing.)

In an apparent response to Remulla’s statements, Leviste said he would respond to all the accusations made against him when Congress resumes its session on January 26. 

“Bibigyan ko kayo ng dalawang linggo para sabihin ang lahat. Sasagutin ko ang lahat sa pagbubukas ng Kongreso sa January 26,” Leviste said in a social media post, without specifying who he was referring to. 

(I will give you two weeks to say everything. I will answer all when Congress opens on January 26.)

During a Senate hearing on the budget of the Department of Energy (DOE) last October,  Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra disclosed that 21 solar energy contracts of Leviste’s Solar Philippines are “being processed for termination due to the company’s failure to deliver the scheduled targets.” 

Rappler’s business columnist Val Villanueva, in his latest column, said the case of Leviste’s Solar Philippines “exposes how the country’s renewable-energy framework can be gamed.” 

Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corporation started investing in Leviste’s SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) in March 2023, and by December 2023, Manila Electric Company subsidiary, Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGEN), had completed its P15.9-billion buyout in Leviste’s SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC), effectively becoming the controlling shareholder with 50.5% voting rights.

Leviste became the vice chairman of SPNEC while Pangilinan assumed the role of chairman, president, and CEO of SPNEC. 

MGEN, in a media statement on Sunday, January 11, said SPNEC is a “separate and distinct corporate entity from Solar Para sa Bayan Corporation (SPBC),” the Leviste company that got a 25-year congressional franchise during the Duterte administration.

SPNEC, however, is a subsidiary of Solar Philippines.

“MGEN did not acquire any share in SPBC, which was awarded a congressional franchise thru Republic Act 11357 to construct and install and operate microgrids in remote areas. Moreover, MGEN is not privy to any transactions of SPBC nor to any circumstances that may relate to its compliance with its franchise,” the power firm said.

Thus, MGEN said “SPNEC’s business and operations are not dependent on the franchise mentioned.”

MGEN also insisted that its investment in SPNEC “did not violate any law or regulation,” noting that “the transactions of SPNEC, including the entry of MGEN through its affiliates” were “scrutinized and approved by the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

On Sunday, Leviste also reposted MGEN’s media statement on his Facebook page.

– Rappler.com