House Appropriations Committee chairperson and Nueva Ecija 1st District Representative Mika Suansing on Monday defended the ₱10-billion increase in the House of Representatives’ 2026 budget, raising it from ₱16.3 billion to ₱27 billion.
Suansing explained the original budget would have left around 50 lawmakers without salaries and their offices non-operational. She said the increase was necessary due to the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) assumption of only 260 to 280 House members, despite there being at least 312.
“Dumaan po ‘yun sa masusing deliberation [at] may justification po doon. One important justification is that the NEP level po, at kinakausap po namin ‘yung DBM patungkol dito, kasi po [at least] 312 po kami na mga kongresista. Ang assumption lang po sa NEP level is around 260 to 280 [House members],” she said.
Suansing added, “Kulang po ‘yung assumption nila… hopefully come the 2027 NEP, sana po maayos na sa NEP pa lang para hindi na po kailangan i-adjust.”
The increase drew criticism from Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste, who claimed the budget hike was “secretly” inserted. Suansing rejected this, saying the adjustment was transparent and approved through proper channels.
“If you would notice, the 2026 appropriations for the House is lower than our 2025 appropriations [of ₱33 billion]. I want to make that clear,” she said.
“Ayoko po magbanggit kung sino po, isa sa aming mga kasamahan na pasikreto daw po itong pinasok. I invite him to again review the deliberations. This was discussed in the plenary and the Bicam deliberations.”
“Definitely po hindi po pasikreto and I invite our colleague to please take a look at the previous hearings and deliberations,” Suansing emphasized.