Tovic Salvador

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Lawmakers from Batangas filed Thursday a resolution condemning the allegations issued by Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and his wife Governor Vilma Santos-Recto, which they tagged as “baseless, malicious, and irresponsible”.</p><p>Recto’s son, Batangas Sixth District Rep. Ryan Recto, led the filing of House Resolution 994, along with Batangas Fourth District Rep. Amado Bolilia IV, Third District Rep. King Collantes, Fifth District Rep. Beverly Dimacuha, and Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro.</p><p>They expressed “support” for the Recto couple, and slammed Leviste’s accusations as “hearsay” and “baseless”. The Batangas solons also accused Leviste of committing “conduct unbecoming of a member of Congress”.</p><p>“The deliberate airing of unverified allegations in a privileged forum constitutes a grave misuse of legislative authority and undermines the integrity of the House of Representatives as an institution,&quot; the resolution stated.</p><p>“Rep. Leviste has demonstrated an obvious and alarming pattern of uncorroborated statements, baseless accusations, and hearsay, which undermine public trust and have no place in our democratic process,” it added.</p><p>“Through his repeated dissemination of unverified claims and misleading narratives, Rep. Leviste has reduced himself into a peddler of fake news, a conduct unbecoming of a member of Congress,” the resolution said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/6/palace-distances-from-recto-leviste-rift-1613">Palace distances from Recto-Leviste rift </a></div><p>In a statement, Leviste responded to the resolution with a question.</p><p>“Totoo ba ang mga sinabi ko tungkol kay Cong. Edwin Gardiola at gumastos ba siya para sa kampanya nina Gov. Vilma? Dahil sa resolusyon hindi nakalagay na hindi totoo ang sinabi ko tungkol kay Gardiola,” he said.</p><p>On Tuesday, Leviste delivered a privilege speech before the House plenary accusing<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/4/leviste-urges-probe-into-alleged-recto-gardiola-link-1619"> CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola</a> of making an offer to join him and Recto in partaking in a supposed scheme to<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/5/leviste-accuses-gardiola-recto-of-scheme-of-doing-business-with-dpwh-2049"> do business with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)</a> in his district. Under the alleged system, Leviste would be assigned to notify them of places for road openings so they could partake in the purchase of the land.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/6/leviste-says-recto-s-statements-about-him-are-baseless-2300">Leviste says Recto&#x27;s statements about him are &#x27;baseless&#x27;</a></div><p>But Recto turned the tables on Leviste, making several allegations against him, including a vote-buying operation in Batangas supposedly orchestrated by Leviste, as well as alleged offers reaching P1 billion from Leviste to convince Santos-Recto to back out so he could take her place.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/4/26/recto-denies-leviste-s-accusation-of-blocking-minimum-wage-increase-1815">Recto denies Leviste’s accusation of blocking minimum wage increase in 19th Congress</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/31/batangas-rep-leviste-fails-to-secure-a-copy-of-ici-final-report-1748">Batangas Rep. Leviste fails to secure a copy of ICI final report </a></div><div><br/><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/Sn4KrerAgfM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/G5-2QOH1RDE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/Z3Uu10PWsMg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Lawmakers from Batangas filed Thursday a resolution condemning the allegations issued by Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and his wife Governor Vilma Santos-Recto, which they tagged as “baseless, malicious, and irresponsible”.</p>

Lawmakers from Batangas filed Thursday a resolution condemning the allegations issued by Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Leviste against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and his wife Governor Vilma Santos-Recto, which they tagged as “baseless, malicious, and irresponsible”.

Batangas lawmakers condemn Leviste’s ‘baseless and malicious’ claims vs Recto

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Batangas lawmakers condemn Leviste’s ‘baseless and malicious’ claims vs Recto

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 07, 2026 02:15 PM PHT

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House of Representatives

Batangas

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