Cheyenne Suarez

DOE says unlikely to reconsider Leviste firm's contract cancellations

Energy Usec. Sharon Garin attends the Finance Subcommittee E's public hearing on the proposed 2024 budgets of government owned- and controlled corporations (GOCCs), namely National Power Corporation, Philippine National Oil Company, and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation on September 22, 2023. During the hearing, Garin, a former lawmaker, called for the establishment of a national policy on the condonation of debts of electric cooperatives. Joseph Vidal, Senate PRIB handout

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Energy is unlikely to reconsider its cancellation of the contracts of the solar power firm founded by Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, the head of the agency said on Friday.</p><p>Energy Secretary Sharon Garin also said that the DOE has already sent notices, but has yet to receive a response from Leviste&#x27;s Solar Philippines.</p><p>&quot;So as far as DOE is concerned, this is finished, this is final already, so if the developer does not pay, then we take it to the legal recourse that we have,&quot; Garin said.</p><p>The DOE earlier cancelled contracts for almost 12,000 megawatts of renewable energy from Solar Philippines Power Projects Holdings.</p><p>It also announced P24 billion in fines slapped on Leviste&#x27;s firm on January 14 for its alleged failure to deliver on these contracts.</p><p>Garin, however, said Solar Philippines has yet to pay the fine.</p><p>&quot;Since there&#x27;s no compliance to our demand we&#x27;ve forwarded the issue to the Ombudsman and to the [Department of Justice] also.&quot;</p><p>She said the payment is long overdue.</p><p>Leviste had earlier denied wrongdoing and said that he was being targeted by the administration over his stand against corruption.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/1/21/leviste-tells-energy-chief-garin-it-s-malicious-to-call-me-a-flipper-1258" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Leviste tells Energy chief Garin: &#x27;It&#x27;s malicious to call me a flipper&#x27;</a></div><p>Garin meanwhile, said Leviste&#x27;s firm was not the only company that was fined because of failure to deliver on contracts.</p><p>&quot;This is just unusual kasi he&#x27;s unusually big,&quot; Garin said.</p><p>The DOE earlier said that Leviste&#x27;s firm accounted for 12,000 megawatts of the 17,000 megawatts of power generation contracts that were cancelled.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not like plinano ito na ngayon lang, kasi it&#x27;s part of a long process that we&#x27;re doing at the DOE. We want legitimate and serious investors in the Philippines kasi hindi po nilalaruan ng electricity, it&#x27;s a utility that is needed by each and every Filipino,&quot; Garin said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/15/energy-chief-says-action-vs-leviste-firm-not-related-to-cabral-files-1055" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&#x27;It&#x27;s so unfair&#x27;: DOE chief says fine, contract termination vs Leviste firm unrelated to &#x27;Cabral files&#x27;</a></div><p>Solar Philippines&#x27; case is already with the DOJ and the Office of the Solicitor General, the Energy chief added.</p><p>ABS-CBN News has sought Leviste&#x27;s side on this issue but the lawmaker has yet to give a reply as of this posting.</p><p>Leviste earlier said his company has already paid the DOE P70 million in fines for contracts that were terminated. However, Leviste also denied that the P24 billion in penalties imposed by the DOE for failure to deliver on energy commitments was for a firm he owns.</p>

<p>The Department of Energy is unlikely to reconsider its cancellation of the contracts of the solar power firm led by Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, the head of the agency said on Friday.</p>

The Department of Energy is unlikely to reconsider its cancellation of the contracts of the solar power firm led by Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, the head of the agency said on Friday.