Leviste engages in activities related to nation building, business growth, and cultural impact.
Leandro Leviste has utilized entrepreneurship as a tool for influence, from powering the nation with solar energy to supporting the country’s cultural core. The young Batangas congressman connects business, politics, and culture in concrete ways, most recently with his acquisition of Solidaridad, the iconic bookshop founded by National Artist F. Sionil José. Leviste measures his growth in terms of profits and the legacy he leaves behind.
As a Representative of Batangas’ 1st District, Leviste is making a mark by maneuvering around business opportunities in his young public career.
Defined by his transition from a self-made renewable energy tycoon into a legislative and cultural force, his recent acquisition of Solidaridad, founded by National Artist F. Sionil José in 1965, marked his entry into a legacy-driven sphere.
Investment spree
The renewable energy sector forged Leviste’s reputation. At just 20, he established Solar Philippines in 2013 with the mission to reduce the country’s high electricity costs through large-scale solar projects.
His entrepreneurial move led to major early victories, including pioneering the country’s first solar power purchase agreement for shopping malls in 2014 and signing a landmark agreement for power supply with Meralco at a record-low rate of P2.99 per kilowatt-hour.
By 2022, Leviste’s ambition had grown exponentially. He laid out a massive 10-gigawatt (GW) development plan, a figure that could boost the entire country’s existing solar capacity of roughly 1.1 GW at the time. That same year, Solar Philippines got 90% of the solar contracts awarded by the Department of Energy’s Green Energy Auction Program.
Following this, Leviste engineered one of the sector’s most significant transactions: the sale of a controlling stake in his subsidiary, SP New Energy Corporation, to Meralco, securing proceeds worth P34 billion.
Using his capital injections, Leviste executed a high-profile investment spree, also acquiring a 10% stake in multimedia giant ABS-CBN Corp., becoming the largest non-Lopez shareholder in the network.
Cultural push
However, his most recent venture of acquiring the Solidaridad bookshop has captured the nation’s attention. Worth around P35 million, the bookshop has underlined the local intellectual and cultural landscape since its foundation in 1965.
Often called “Asia’s biggest little bookshop,” it served as a cultural sanctuary, housing the curated library of José and acting as the official headquarters of the Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists).
The shop holds the country’s most extensive collection of Filipiniana, making it a critical hub for writers, historians, and intellectuals. Leviste has committed to preserving the shop’s operations and literary mission, ensuring its continuity as a resource for Filipino expression and memory.
A politically connected neo-elite
Still, Leviste’s rise has drawn critiques about how much of his success can be attributed to business savvy—and how much to family ties. As the son of two very prominent political figures, Leviste has the kind of lineage that opened doors few outsiders ever get close to. It’s an advantage hard to ignore when he launched Solar Philippines at age 20, or when he secured massive contracts and state-backed deals shortly after.
Some observers point out that Leviste’s business moves, including rapid expansion, a high-stakes public listing of SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC), then a multibillion-peso share sale to Meralco, coincide conveniently with his political ambitions. In June 2025, he sold most of his SPNEC shares ahead of taking office as congressman, a move framed as a pivot to public service. But critics ask whether that divestment really clears the path of potential conflicts of interest, or merely reshuffles business leverage into political capital.
Leviste’s critics may call him, at best, a politically connected neo-elite—a “nepo baby” whose wealth and influence ride heavily on his family name and existing networks. At worst, they warn, he represents a new generation of elite power brokers, repackaged under the guise of renewable-energy entrepreneurship and cultural patronage. Either way, his story seems less a self-made saga than one written with deep inheritance.
Legarda dynasty
His political debut demonstrates his business and cultural prowess. Leviste, son of former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste and Senator Loren Legarda, won a seat in Congress this year following a historic landslide victory in Batangas.
His mandate focuses on leveraging his entrepreneurial experience to drive economic development and sustainable growth.
Recognizing the immense capital and operational expertise needed to realize a vision, Leviste pivoted his business model from independent builder to partner, consolidating vast land assets and seeking collaboration with established utility conglomerates.
Booklovers are eager to see what Leviste has planned for Solidaridad, hoping he will breathe fresh life into its role as a hub for Filipino literature, ideas, and cultural exchange. The hope is he will continue its legacy, attracting new generations of readers, writers, and thinkers, and ensuring the bookshop remains a vital part of the country’s intellectual and cultural landscape for years to come.
His mandate focuses on leveraging his entrepreneurial experience to drive economic development and sustainable growth.
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