QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The House of Representatives has struck from its records a prior ruling that declared a motion by Navotas City Lone District Representative Toby Tiangco out of order.
During Wednesday’s plenary session, House Assistant Majority Leader and Cavite 8th District Representative Aniela Tolentino moved to invalidate the decision made earlier in the week regarding Tiangco’s request for reconsideration.
“During last Monday’s plenary session, September 21, 2026, a ruling was made that the motion for reconsideration of the Honorable representative from the lone district of City of Navotas, Rep. Toby Tiangco, was declared out of order,” Tolentino noted.
“I move to strike out from the record the statement in two instances that the motion for reconsideration is out of order, I so move, Mr. Speaker,” she added.
With no objections raised, House Deputy Speaker and TUCP Party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza approved the motion.
The controversy stems from September 21, when Tiangco raised a parliamentary inquiry questioning why deliberations on the proposed 2027 budget for Congress were moved up from September 24 to September 17.
“Kaya po tayo nagbibigay ng schedule ng budget is para po makapahanda yung mga members na magtanong. So kung ang budget ng House ay September 24 pa, natural po ang paghahandaan muna ay yung September 18, September 21, so mas logical po kung doon humugot. Kaya lang, what was the compelling reason na napakahalaga bakit inuna yung budget ng House of Representatives when traditionally nasa dulo po yun,” Tiangco argued.
House Deputy Speaker and Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin explained that the schedule shifted after discussions for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) were postponed.
When Tiangco appealed to reopen the debate on Congress’s budget, he stressed the need for transparency.
“Noon pa lang pong DBCC (Development Budget Coordination Committee) on the first day, nag-request na po ako na dalhin sa committee yung budget ng House ngunit hindi po pumayag, so sa plenaryo na lang po,” Tiangco stated.
“Hindi po magandang tignan na ang budget ng House hindi man lang pinaliwanag dito sa plenaryo at pinasa natin. Kaya po humihingi po ako ng consideration,” he added.
Garin initially rejected his appeal, citing parliamentary rules.
“A motion for reconsideration is being put forward by the Hon. Tiangco. While the presiding officer would gladly yield, unfortunately our rules state that only a member who had voted with the majority can vote for the reconsideration. With that, our apologies, the motion for reconsideration is out of order,” Garin ruled on Monday.
However, during Wednesday’s session, Tiangco challenged the consistency of that restriction after participating in the day’s budget votes.
“Madam Speaker, let us just go with your ruling. Madam Speaker, if that is the ruling, I was present today. I voted for the approval of all the budget tackled today. So, if we go by your ruling, do you mean to say I can move now to reconsider all these? You want to test your ruling? Let’s test it now,” Tiangco warned.
Following a temporary suspension of the session, the House leadership opted to strike out the previous ruling against Tiangco’s motion.
In a subsequent interview, Tiangco expressed relief over the reversal, calling for fair application of parliamentary procedure.
“I’m glad that the majority realized na mali yun, so they moved that it be stricken off the record,” Tiangco said.
“May rules kami, huwag naman baluktutin yung rules dahil marami sila at isa lang akong independent. Siyempre, pag binaluktot nila yung rules at isa lang akong independent, kahit anong botohan ’yan, kahit baluktot, hindi puwedeng manaig yung tama eh,” he asserted.
“So, they have to make a choice, kung papanindigan nila yung ruling na yun then ibalik natin yung lahat nung ahensya (na na-terminate na ngayong araw). It’s either you stick to your ruling, in which case I can move for reconsideration, or say that mali yung ruling na yun,” he added.