Executive Secretary Ralph Recto strongly denied allegations made by Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste and accused the lawmaker of bribery, vote-buying and spreading disinformation.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Recto responded to a series of accusations recently made by Leviste against him and the Marcos administration.
Recto described Leviste as a “bitter brat” and a “natural born liar,” saying he initially chose not to answer the allegations but decided to speak out because there should be limits to what he called baseless attacks.
The executive secretary claimed that during their first meeting, Leviste allegedly attempted to offer him ₱400 million in exchange for convincing a political rival to withdraw from a race. Recto said he rejected the proposal.
He also alleged that another offer amounting to ₱1 billion was later made so that Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto would supposedly withdraw from the elections.
According to Recto, he did not publicly discuss the matter before out of respect for Leviste’s mother, Sen. Loren Legarda.
Recto further claimed that Leviste’s camp previously sought support to acquire large tracts of land in Nasugbu, Batangas, which he said he also did not support.
The executive secretary also cited reports allegedly linking Leviste’s camp to widespread vote-buying operations in Batangas.
Aside from political allegations, Recto criticized Leviste’s business activities and described the lawmaker’s reported ₱24 billion debt tied to alleged “ghost solar projects” as the “biggest scam.”
He also mentioned alleged troll farms, artificial intelligence operations and disinformation tactics supposedly being used against government officials.
Despite the exchange of accusations, Recto said public officials should remain focused on more important national issues.
