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Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
January 17, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Leviste filed yesterday a P110-million civil libel case against Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Balayan, Batangas.
Leviste said Castro committed libel by accusing him of selling the franchise of his Solar energy company.
“First of all, we are here in Balayan Regional Trial Court to file a case against PCO Undersecretary Claire Castro because of her libelous statements about my Solar business. I did not sell the franchise, because I have no company with a franchise that I sold,” Leviste said in an interview with reporters after filing the complaint.
“The company that I sold has no franchise, and I don’t want to hurt Usec. Claire Castro. But I have to defend my name because she had made several vlogs already about me,” Leviste, who was accompanied by his legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio, added.
Leviste wants Castro to pay P100 million for moral damages, P10 million for exemplary damages “in order to serve as an example to the public and attorney’s fees in the amount of P1 million plus the appearances fees and incidental expenses to be computed after the trial, for legal expenses.”
He said that they are also still looking into filing other cases against Castro.
Leviste said that on Jan. 10, 2026, Castro posted on her vlog, accessible on YouTube, the statement in all caps, “IMBESTIGAHAN NG OMBUDSMAN ANG SOLAR FIRM NI CONG. LEVISTE WALA KA BANG KAHIH!YABN [sic]?”
In this Jan. 10 post, Leviste said Castro presented a news clip on the ombudsman’s supposed investigation against Leviste’s sale of his controlling interest of his solar power company without the approval of Congress.
The congressman said Castro claimed that he was given a franchise during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, then he sold his controlling shares without the approval of Congress.
While also presenting a screenshot of an online news article referring to Leviste’s Solar Para sa Bayan Corp. (SPBC), Castro allegedly narrated that Leviste is pro-Duterte because his company was given the franchise during the Duterte administration.
“In the same vlog, pertaining to SPBC, defendant further made it appear that she searched in the internet about the supposed debts of plaintiff’s solar firm with the Department of Energy (DOE) and provided answers to the viewers, using merely the AI (artificial intelligence) overview, that there were no debts, but there were penalties,” the complaint further read.
Leviste said Castro also claimed in her June 2025 vlog that he divested his majority stake in a company called SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) to Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), before assuming public office with proceeds of the share sales.
“She quipped ‘Madaming penalties, tapos biglang nag-divest,’” Leviste said in his complaint quoting Castro’s vlog.
Leviste said that Castro made untrue, reckless and malicious utterances, constituting defamation of his name.
“Defendant is moved by malice or reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of her statements. However, in defendant’s unfounded vlog and/or commentary, she made willful, corrupt and deliberate assertions of a plethora of falsehoods, which impute against plaintiff’s person the commission of supposed unethical or illegal acts. She alleged plain intrigue to purposely blemish plaintiff’s honor and reputation, not only as a person but also as a public servant and businessman,” the complaint read.
Leviste said that Castro’s reliance on artificial intelligence or AI for matters that she broadcast on the net, is sheer negligence or lack of concern for the truth.
He said that Castro’s utterances fall outside the ambit of protected speech.
For his part, Topacio said Castro’s claims were part of a “targeted attack” against his client, who had been vocal in criticizing the government’s infrastructure budget.
“This is not only an exercise of freedom of expression. This is a targeted attack against Cong. Leviste for being a critic of the government,” he said.
An attempt to silence
For Castro, she sees the cyber libel case against her as an attempt to silence her.
“Filing this case is the real way to stop me from speaking out and discussing the issues,” the Palace press officer said in a statement in Filipino sent to reporters.
Castro, however, said she has yet to receive a copy of the complaint. — Helen Flores
