ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Suansing responds to Leviste: House leadership doesn't influence solons on voting

Suansing responds to Leviste: House leadership doesn't influence solons on voting

Published Dec 29, 2025 07:34 am

At A Glance

  • The leadership of the House of Representatives does not influence congressmen in any way when it comes to their individual choices and decisions.
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing (left), Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (PPAB, MANILA BULLETIN)
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing (left), Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste (PPAB, MANILA BULLETIN)


The leadership of the House of Representatives does not influence congressmen in any way when it comes to their individual choices and decisions.
Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing gave this response Sunday afternoon, Dec. 28 to allegations coming Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste that certain House members are given "incentives"
Leviste, in his pronouncements last week, made it appear that incentives totaling ₱151 million were offered to him as a way to influence his vote on ₱6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026.
Asked if there was any truth to this, Suansing didn't answer with a simple "yes" or "no".
"I will answer that in this manner: The House of Representatives is a collegial body. We respect each member to have the freedom to choose based on the needs--not just choose, to vote and to decide--based on the needs of their constituents and their conscience," Suansing said following the signing of the Bicameral Conference Committee (bicam) report on the 2026 GAB at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
"So the House leadership has always maintained as a policy, as a principle, to not sway any individual member to vote a certain way," noted the lady solon, who had been quite proud of the "transparent" nature the budget process was carried out this year.
"So ganun ko po sasagutin yun, na hindi po ini-impluwensyahan ng House leadership ang sinomang indibidwal na miyembro ng Kongreso, ng Kamara na bumoto ng papaano mang paraan," Suansing said.
(That is how I will respond, that the House leadership does not influence any individual member of Congress, of the House, to vote in any manner whatsoever.)
Leviste, a vice chairman of the appropriations committee and a rookie congressman, had shared in a Facebook post a picture of a piece of paper allegedly shown to him by Suansing's staff.
Written on the paper were following details: 21M DOH MAIP, 25M DOLE TUPAD/GIP, 25M DSWD AICS, 30M DA FMR, 25M OTHERS, and 25M DPWH. This totaled to ₱151 million.
These appeared to be references to government the programs, including the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients, Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers/ Government Internship Program, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, and farm-to-market roads.
Leviste said the staff called to meet secretly, showed the document to him, as a vice chairman, and said “This is your incentive” a week before the budget vote.
Leviste also shared another piece of paper purportedly shown to another congressman, enumerating budgets totaling ₱250 million.
While the P6.793-trillion GAB for 2026 was handily passed on third and final reading last Oct. 13, the Batangas lawmaker ended up as the lone member of the House majority bloc to vote against it.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.