Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-List Representative Leila de Lima has slammed as “offensive” and “unfair” the statement of Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste alleging that all congressmen are involved in “vote buying.”
De Lima Demands Personal Retraction
De Lima stressed that it is not enough to simply strike the allegation from the record. She insisted that Leviste should personally retract his statement. The issue stemmed from Leviste's claim that some congressmen were involved in vote buying, which immediately drew reactions from several members of the House of Representatives.
When given another chance to clarify, Leviste explained that not all lawmakers are involved in vote buying and later withdrew his sweeping claim. “First I would like to clarify that I meant that there are some, but not all — and there are many members of Congress who do not violate election laws, so please do not consider that I said that all, and I definitely withdraw that there are,” Leviste said.
Questions Raised on Basis of Allegations
Meanwhile, some lawmakers questioned the basis of Leviste's allegations against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and others, including the supposed large campaign spending in Batangas. Recto's camp asserted that the accusations are baseless and even called Leviste a “liar” in a previous statement.
“I am not a liar, I do not want to play coy with the people, all of us here in the plenary have knowledge that vote-buying is rampant and it reaches millions of pesos on average and sometimes billions for the campaign of candidates in the Philippines,” Leviste explained. “That’s why anyone who would stand here and say that I am telling lies, that candidates here in the plenary of Congress now are spending hundreds of millions, I would not be ashamed to say that they are the ones lying,” the young lawmaker added.
As of now, the plenary has referred the matter concerning Leviste's statements to the Committee on Rules for evaluation and appropriate action.
