Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing has fact-checked claims that the House of Representatives secretly inflated its internal budget for 2026 under the P6.326-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Suansing, in a chance interview Monday afternoon, Dec. 29, said the proposed funds for the House's operations next year--P27 billion--is actually lower by P6 billion compared ro the current 2025 budget of P33 billion.

The Harvard graduate also denied allegations that the House budget was approved in secret or in any non-transparent way.

While Suansing refused to name any solon in particular, she was obviously referring to allegations made by appropriations panel vice chairman, Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste.

"Ayoko po magbanggit kung sino po. Isa sa aming mga kasamahan na pasekreto daw po itong pinasok (I don't want to mention anybody. One of our colleagues is claiming that it was secretly inserted). I invite him to again review the deliberations," Suansing said.

Her remarks suggest that Leviste might not have paid enough attention to the process.

"Isinalang po ito sa deliberasyon sa plenaryo ng Kongreso at isinalang din po ito sa deliberasyon ng bicam (This was tackled during the plenary deliberations in Congress and during the deliberations of the Bicameral Conference Committee)," Suansing noted.

“So definitely po, hindi po pa-sekreto (it wasn't done secretly) and I invite our colleague to please take a look at the previous hearings and deliberations.” 

Leviste, a neophyte congressman, earlier said that Congress increased its own internal budget from P17.20 billion to P27.70 billion under the 2026 GAB, "without explanation or debate".

“I’m not only questioning the outcome, but the process: Why was no explanation given for the need for this increase, and why is no one speaking up on this?" he said.

He also said the House's Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) increased from P10.75 billion to P18.58 billion, also under the GAB.

But Suansing's point is these figures are still way below the P33 billion House internal budget under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), or this year's enacted budget.

Wrong NEP assumption

The appropriations panel chief also explained that the House always needs to adjust the National Expenditure Program (NEP) due to the erroneous assumption on the number of congressmen. The NEP, which is prepared by the executive branch, is the basis of the GAB.

“One important justification is that the NEP levels po, at kinakausap po namin yung DBM (Department of Budget and Management) patungkol dito, kasi po [318] po kami na mga kongresista. Ang assumption lang po sa NEP level is around 260 to 280. So kulang po yung assumption nila,” she said.

(We are talking to the DBM about this, because we are [318] congressmen. The assumption at the NEP level is only around 260 to 280. So their assumption is lacking.)

"Hopefully for the 2027 budget, the DBM would correct its assumption para hindi na po kailangan i-adjust para po ma-cover lahat (so that we no longer have to adjust to cover everyone)," Suansing said.

The increase covers the salaries of lawmakers and their staff, as well as the operational expenses of their offices.