Respect is a two-way street.

House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing gave this reminder Thursday, Aug. 14 amid questions on whether or not the panel would accord executive branch officials due respect in the upcoming 2026 budget hearings.

In the backdrop of such questions was last year's hearing on the Office of the Vice President (OVP) budget, which saw a shocking abandonement of decorum affer Vice President Sara Duterte decided to be antagonistic toward the House members.

"Under my leadership as chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations, I commit that all of the agencies, all of the heads of agencies, will receive the respect due and commensurate to their offices kasi co-equal branches of government (because we're co-equal branches of government)," Suansing said, referring to the legislature.

"So, we extend the same respect to our colleagues in the executive branch and the judiciary," she said.

When asked if she and the solons expected to be shown proper courtesy during the budget discussions, Suansing replied, "Yes, I would hope so. Expect is a strong term."

"But yes, I really do hope that the heads of agencies would extend the same courtesy of our respect because all we want here, pare-pareho naman po tayo ng kagustuhan na talagang maging masusi yung pagdinig at deliberation patungkol sa budget (We all share the same desire for the budget hearing and deliberation to be thorough).

"So, para po magawa natin yung talagang ganun na paghimay sa budget, kailangan po makaroon tayo ng matiwasay na pagdinig (So, in order for us to truly achieve that kind of detailed scrutiny of the budget, we need to have a peaceful and orderly hearing), and that is highly dependent on the way that all the parties engage with each other," the "Young Guns" bloc member explained.

In the long history of budget hearings in the House of Representatives, Vice President Duterte's demeanor last year was clearly the exception and not the rule.

Traditionally, Cabinet members and agency heads go out of their way to attend the budget deliberations and show the lawmakers that they are worthy of handling a bigger allocation than what was given to them previously.

It was also pointed out that the Vice President displayed way better behavior toward senators during the same budget cycle last year.

Suansing says the appropriations panel has yet to receive a notification from the OVP regarding Duterte's attendance to this year's budget deliberations.

"Hindi po po kami nakatanggap ng notice (We have yet to receive a notice). I'm also unsure whether we've already checked specifically on the attendance of the Vice President, but there's no confirmation yet," she said.

"As with all the agencies, we extend the same courtesy to all of the heads of agencies.

Lahat po ng mga secretary, lahat po ng mga officialis, heads of agencies po ng mga tatalakayin ma mga ahensya ay atin pong iniimbitahan sa atin po mga pagdinig (All the secretaries, all the officials, and the heads of the agencies that will be discussed are being invited to our hearings)," she added.

The House of Representatives--which exercises the power of the purse--received earlier this week the P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026. The NEP is the precursor to the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), or the legislated budget measure.