Suansing denies Leviste’s claims of lawmaker ‘incentives’ in 2026 budget

House appropriations committee chairperson Mikaela Suansing strongly belied Monday imputations by her colleague, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste, that lawmakers were offered “incentives” disguised as line items in the closely scrutinized P6.793 trillion budget for 2026.

Suansing asserted that voting in support of the ratification of the bicam report on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) rests solely in the discretion of each House member, refuting speculations that the alleged payoffs may be a bribe intended to keep lawmakers from questioning the spending outlay amid concerns of a possible pork barrel allocations.

“The House leadership does not influence any individual member of the House on how to vote,” she said in Filipino. “The House of Representatives is a collegial body. We respect each member to have the freedom to vote and to decide based on the needs of their constituents and their conscience.”

Her remarks came on the heels of Leviste’s allegations that he was offered P151 million worth of government programs that could be allocated to his district by a supposed staff member from Suansing’s office in late September, before the approval of the House GAB on final reading.

Leviste claimed that these programs were personally offered to him as “incentives” by Suansing’s staff during a brief meeting at the House lounge.

He suspected that this may have something to do with his position as one of the vice chairs of the appropriations panel responsible for crafting and finalizing its version of the national budget, or GAB, based on the National Expenditure Program submitted by the executive.

Leviste further alleged that his peers were also given incentives, though the amounts were much higher than those offered to him.

The so-called incentives were allegedly under the guise of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients Program under the Department of Health and the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers, with an aggregate amount of P21 million and P25 million, respectively.

It also includes Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (P25 million), farm-to-market roads under the Department of Agriculture (P30 million).

Others are in the form of unmentioned projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (P25 million), the Department of Education, and the National Irrigation Administration, as well as other soft projects worth P25 million.

Suansing, however, argued such claims starkly contradict the House’s effort to make the budget process more transparent in a bid to regain public trust in Congress, which has long suspected of corruption.

She said sweeping reforms included, among others, the creation of the Budget Amendment and Review Sub-Committee to replace the so-called small committee, where alleged back-door insertions happen, comprising selected members from the House and the Senate.

Through these initiatives, Suansing averred that the national budget was thoroughly scrutinized before it was submitted for plenary consideration, leaving no room for bunders.

Furthermore, she claimed that all lawmakers from both the House and the Senate were furnished with a digital copy of the bicameral conference committee version of the GAB for further scrutiny before the ratification vote yesterday, Monday.