By Lane Afable, News Editor
ENERGY Secretary Sharon Garin has filed a criminal complaint against Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste and several directors of Solar Para Sa Bayan (SPSB) for failure to fulfill obligations under its franchise.
“SPSB/SPBC, through respondent incorporators, directors, and/or officers, knowingly and willfully neglected, failed, or omitted to do or perform its obligation under the legislative franchise to provide electric power to customers and end-users in remote, unviable , unserved, or underserved areas,” the complaint stated.
Aside from Leviste, board directors Antonio C. Legarda Sr., Benjamin C. Legarda, Hazel Iris P. Lafuente, and Irma C. Flamiliano were named respondents.
Nevertheless, Leviste called the complaint “super-duper weak.”
He said via text message on Thursday that he will pursue his own probe on the flood control scandal involving officials of the Executive and Legislative branches of the government.
“I am continuing this even though someone told me that (Executive Secretary Ralph Recto) is allegedly ordering Garin, because Recto’s term is coming to an end, but the investigation into Recto’s connection with Gardiola should not be over,” he said.
SPSB was granted a 25-year franchise on July 31, 2019. However, it has not completed a power project since inception.
“To this date, it has been almost seven years since the legislative franchise was granted to SPSB/SPBC.
“During this period, the respondents, being the incorporators, directors, and/or officers of SPSB/SPBC, failed to comply with their obligations under the franchise,” the complaint stated.
The DOE further alleged that during these years, SPSB/SPBC continuously established and provided renewable energy for profit through several groups of companies under the umbrella of Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc. (SPPPHI), a corporation that is 100-percent owned by respondent Leviste.
It is noted that in January this year, the DOE terminated 33 renewable energy (RE) service contracts awarded to the project companies of SPPPHI.
This represents roughly 64 percent of the terminated contracts that failed to meet contractual obligations.
A total of 163 RE service contracts, with a total capacity of 17,904.02MW, were terminated and relinquished in 2024 and 2025. “Out of the 17,904 megawatts of terminated contracts for 2025 and 2024, Solar Philippines would be about, if I’m correct here, 11,427 megawatts. That’s more or less equivalent to 64 percent of the terminated contracts,” Garin had said.
For failure to meet contractual obligations, the agency imposed a penalty of at least P24 billion on the units of SPPPHI that were cited by the DOE.
The complaint was filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) last Wednesday. However, it has not been yet formally docketed as it remains under evaluation.
“Should the evidence, upon evaluation, be found sufficient, the complaint will be docketed accordingly for the conduct of a preliminary investigation,” DOJ spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez said.
