Rowegie Abanto

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) building is seen in this photo taken on August 25, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) building is seen in this photo taken on August 25, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175670824324320250825-dpwh-building-JC0875.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">The Department of Public Works and Highways building is seen in this photo taken on August 25, 2025. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Monday suggested slashing the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways to reduce the &quot;potential for corruption.&quot;</p><p>Leviste made the proposal as the Senate on Monday <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/senate-begins-deliberation-on-proposed-2026-national-budget-1317">began budget deliberations</a> and as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/arrest-warrants-loom-for-flood-contractors-who-skipped-2nd-senate-probe-1107">kicked off the second hearing into anomalous flood control projects</a>.</p><p>&quot;I think that that is actually one solution to the issue of DPWH because if you have a smaller budget ... then at least there&#x27;s less potential for corruption. So lower spending is a good idea if you want to prevent corruption,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/-clean-slate-from-top-to-bottom-vince-dizon-to-order-courtesy-resignations-of-dpwh-officials-1221&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjV5I-R_raPAxWesVYBHawNKXYQFnoECBwQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw2yvcIUrdQW1dQvnB3P6gJZ">‘Clean slate from top to bottom’: Vince Dizon to order courtesy resignations of DPWH officials</a><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/yumaman-sa-dpwh-discaya-says-viral-video-spliced-1059&amp;ved=2ahUKEwii68iX_raPAxXilFYBHeExL_EQFnoECBoQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gzcVckHFwPfQKfYA_hsUy"></a><br/><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/yumaman-sa-dpwh-discaya-says-viral-video-spliced-1059&amp;ved=2ahUKEwii68iX_raPAxXilFYBHeExL_EQFnoECBoQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gzcVckHFwPfQKfYA_hsUy">Yumaman sa DPWH? Discaya says viral video &#x27;spliced&#x27;</a></div><p>Aside from reducing the budget of DPWH, the lawmaker, who is a young billionaire, suggested imposing a &quot;wealth tax.&quot; The two proposals&#x27; &quot;overarching goal&quot; is to bring the 12 percent value-added tax to 10 percent, he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/arrest-warrants-loom-for-flood-contractors-who-skipped-2nd-senate-probe-1107">Arrest warrants loom for contractors who skipped 2nd Senate hearing into flood control</a></div><p>A two-percent reduction in the 12 percent VAT may &quot;result in the government foregoing maybe P130 billion a year in revenues, but that [is] going directly into the disposable income of every Filipino family,&quot; said Leviste.</p><p>He explained that instead of distributing cash aid or ayuda, which entails administrative costs to collect tax money and distribute to beneficiaries, a lower VAT would &quot;result in around P5,000 more of disposable income for every family.&quot;</p><p>Leviste, meanwhile, explained his &quot;wealth tax&quot; proposal.</p><p>&quot;[I]f we just impose a tax on these high-end homes, then if there&#x27;s, for example, 5,000 families that own property worth over P2 billion, that&#x27;s a 10 trillion peso asset class. And if you impose a 1.5 percent tax on that, then you can generate P150 billion a year in government revenues, then you can pay for the reduction in VAT,&quot; he said.</p><p>Leviste said he is proposing a new tax because the Department of Finance is &quot;very allergic&quot; to a reduction in revenue. </p><p>&quot;If you want to lower the VAT, you have to have a new tax,&quot; he said, noting that the Philippines has the highest VAT in Southeast Asia and also has one of the highest levels of inequality in the region.</p><p>&quot;[I]t&#x27;s easier to have a more progressive tax code so that the proceeds of those acts can at least be taxed and then returned to the government.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/8/26/leviste-files-raps-vs-batangas-engineer-over-alleged-bribe-attempt-1254">Leviste files raps vs Batangas engineer over alleged bribe attempt</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/8/28/-bidding-biddingan-leviste-says-ex-batangas-solon-selected-winning-bidders-for-dpwh-projects-1519">‘Bidding-biddingan: Leviste says ex-Batangas solon ‘selected’ winning bidders for DPWH projects</a></div><p>Imposing a wealth tax has previously been floated by politicians but met with resistance from business groups, who said the proposal would have an &quot;adverse effect&quot; on the country&#x27;s economy and that the government should instead improve tax collection and attract investments.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/20/tax-on-savings-interest-sparks-renewed-call-to-tax-billionaires-instead-1209">Tax on savings interest sparks renewed call to tax billionaires instead</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aZqXlUwXvOg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Monday suggested slashing the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways to reduce the "potential for corruption."</p>

Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Monday suggested slashing the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways to reduce the "potential for corruption."

Leviste suggests slashing DPWH budget to reduce 'potential for corruption'

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Leviste suggests slashing DPWH budget to reduce 'potential for corruption'

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 01, 2025 02:58 PM PHT

|

Updated September 01, 2025 08:11 PM PHT

Read More:

Leandro Leviste

wealth tax

VAT reduction

DPWH

corruption

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