Metro Manila, Philippines – The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 235 has ordered the arrest of Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste for allegedly violating the Public Service Act (PSA) in connection with his company Solar Para Sa Bayan Corporation (SPSBC).
The warrant, dated Oct. 5 and signed by Presiding Judge Ricardo Moldez II, recommended bail at ₱72,000.
In a Viber message, Department of Justice spokesperson Anthony Niccolo “Polo” Martinez confirmed that the agency submitted official documents to the court on Sept. 29.
“The filing of the information stemmed from a finding of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction that SPSBC willfully neglected and intentionally failed to comply with its obligations under its legislative franchise,” Martinez said.
The lawyer also said that the DOJ is aware of the issuance of an arrest warrant.
In a statement on Facebook, Tony La Viña, spokesperson of Leviste and his mother, Sen. Loren Legarda, said the congressman is facing a “complaint looking for a crime.”
“First, the Solar ng Bayan franchise is not a public utility covered by the PSA. Leviste and his companies cannot be charged for a crime under a law which does not apply to them,” he said.
“Second, the franchise was not implemented because the Department of Energy did not issue the necessary rules and regulations required by the franchise. And nor did it identify the places where the franchise could be implemented. Because of this failure, as provided by the law itself, the franchise was ipso facto revoked,” he added.
La Viña also said, “Third, and this is more technical, you cannot invoke a general penal clause of a law without identifying specific provisions in the law which an accused has committed. In other words, ‘no harm, no foul.’”
In his own social media account, Leviste thanked his supporters.
“Salamat sa lahat ng sumusuporta. Huwag niyo akong alalahanin, maliit na bagay lang ito kumpara sa ibang nangyayari. Kayo ang inaalala ko,” he stated.
[Translation: Thank you to all my supporters. Do not worry about me, this is a small thing compared to other happenings. You are what I am worried about.]
