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Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, September 23, 2024. Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

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SENATE HEARING- OP Budget

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175730049198720240923-senate-bersamin-op-budget-SPRIB-2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, September 23, 2024. Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was asked on Monday to explain before the House Committee on Appropriations the statement he issued over the weekend, accusing &quot;certain members&quot; of the House of Representatives of shifting the blame &quot;for their own corruption&quot; onto the Executive branch, and urging the lower chamber to &quot;clean your House first&quot;.</p><p>House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan posed the question during the Office of the President&#x27;s budget briefing before the House panel.</p><p>&quot;There&#x27;s the tradition in the House that we give institutional and parliamentary courtesy to the Office of the President. However, there are pressing issues, which need to be clarified,&quot; Libanan said, then read Bersamin&#x27;s statement.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/6/-clean-your-house-first-bersamin-blasts-lawmakers-on-flood-control-projects-1945">READ: &#x27;Clean your House first!&#x27; Bersamin blasts lawmakers on flood-control projects</a></div><p>The Executive Secretary clarified that his statement -- which he said was a consensus among cabinet members of the Marcos Jr. administration -- does not intend to malign the lower chamber, but to assert separation of powers.</p><p>&quot;Thank you, Mr. Minority Leader for raising this one, it&#x27;s the elephant in the room. But we came here in good faith. Any part of that statement is our statement. We will not shirk from that or avoid the impact,&quot; Bersamin replied.</p><p>&quot;We would like to emphasize today that that statement was more to stress our institutional separation from the House of Representatives, some of whose members, and I hope it is not the majority, have made some statements that we, in the Cabinet, considered to be against institutional separation of powers or to raise the confidence in our institution. So we came up with that statement,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a consensus of the cabinet. It was more to emphasize our constitutional position and separation and to elicit cooperation and support from the House of Representatives, more than any other.&quot; </p><p>&quot;We do not intend to rile up the tension between our departments. We come here seeking your support for our institutional budget… There is nothing intended that is malicious or to malign the House of Representatives,&quot; he stressed.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/7/marcos-tells-cabinet-after-bersamin-blasts-house-i-hope-lumamig-na-ulo-niyo-1609">READ: Marcos tells Cabinet after Bersamin blasts House: ‘I hope lumamig na ulo niyo’</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>INDEPENDENT COMMISSION</strong></div><p>An executive order creating an independent commission that will conduct a probe into alleged anomalies in flood control projects is in the works, and developments on it are expected after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returns from his Cambodia trip, according to Bersamin.</p><p>He stressed that the independent body is being created &quot;in good faith&quot;, and does not preempt the lower chamber from conducting its own investigation.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/7/independent-commission-on-flood-control-probe-will-have-all-powers-necessary-says-marcos-jr-2145">READ: Independent commission on flood control probe will have &#x27;all powers necessary,&#x27; says Marcos Jr.</a></div><p>&quot;The objective there is to do as he had promised, to come up with an independent commission or body, that would continue the inquiry into the issues that were raised in his SONA as well as in later statements that he made. This is all in good faith. Unless we initiated the creation of an independent body, we will just be waiting for the other institutions,&quot; Bersamin said.</p><p>&quot;We do not preempt the Congress, especially this House from doing its own, taking initiative also in this respect. The initial discussions in the executive, whatever commission is created by presidential fiat would have a timeline, meaning a sunset. It becomes your privilege to look at it the same way, and maybe pass laws regarding the investigation of these anomalies. We will not be a hindrance there,&quot; he added.</p><p>House members from the Liberal Party and the LP bloc plan to file a proposal giving authority to the independent commission, and granting it subpoena powers. </p><p>&quot;We feel that a legislated Independent Commission or an Independent Commission created by law, and not just Executive Order, would have more teeth. And the focus here would be really to inquire into the anomalous infrastructure projects, especially the flood control projects,&quot; ML Party List Representative Leila de Lima said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>INSTITUTIONAL COURTESY</strong></div><p>The House Committee on Appropriations terminated its deliberations on the proposed P27.3 billion budget for the Office of the President next year, after only around 30 minutes, citing &quot;institutional courtesy.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/8/house-panel-terminates-office-of-the-president-s-2026-budget-deliberations-1051">READ: House panel OKs Office of the President&#x27;s proposed 2026 budget</a></div><p>Some lawmakers objected to the motion, but lost, when it was put to a vote. Fifty-six members of the House panel voted in favor of terminating the House panel&#x27;s deliberations on the OP&#x27;s proposed 2026 budget, and only five members voted against it.</p><p>&quot;No other than the President himself has said that there must be transparency and accountability, especially with regard to the discussion of the national budget, and so, we must scrutinize the OP budget in that spirit,&quot; Kamanggagawa Party List Rep. Elijah San Fernando said.</p><p>&quot;Now of all times is not the time for parliamentary courtesy, but for full transparency in the budget process, especially for the Office of the President… Sabi niya paglaban sa corruption… Bakit ngayon ay pinipigilan natin ang pagbulatlat sa buong budget ng Office of the President?&quot; ACT Teachers Party List Representative Antonio Tinio, for his part, said.</p><p>Under the 2026 National Expenditure Program, P4.5 billion was allocated for confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the President, and more than P1 billion was allocated for his local and foreign travels.</p><p>&quot;The President will still be able to accommodate the logistical requirements of honoring invitations from foreign leaders to visit their countries to convey our collective aspirations through effective personal diplomacy,&quot; Bersamin explained.</p><p>Of the proposed 2026 budget for the OP, more than half or  64% is allocated for the country&#x27;s hosting of ASEAN summits and related meetings next year.</p><p>&quot;While the amount is lodged with the OP, about 38% of this will be released to other offices as their budgetary support for their respective participations in our country&#x27;s hosting,&quot; Bersamin said.</p><p>&quot;We are confident that the Philippine chairship of ASEAN 2026 will further improve our  standing as a founding member of the ASEAN, and will strengthen our political and economic ties with the community and its dialogue partners,&quot; he added.</p><p>Bersamin noted that the proposed 2026 budget for OP&#x27;s regular programs, which does not include the budget for ASEAN preparations, is 6.82% lower than the current year.</p>

<p>Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was asked Monday to explain his statement accusing “certain members” of the House of Representatives of shifting the blame “for their own corruption and failures” onto the Executive Branch, and urging the lower chamber to “clean your House first”.</p>

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was asked Monday to explain his statement accusing “certain members” of the House of Representatives of shifting the blame “for their own corruption and failures” onto the Executive Branch, and urging the lower chamber to “clean your House first”.

ES Bersamin asked to explain ‘clean your house’ remark at House budget briefing

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ES Bersamin asked to explain ‘clean your house’ remark at House budget briefing

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 08, 2025 11:03 AM PHT

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Updated Sep 08, 2025 01:35 PM PHT

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House of Representatives

budget

budget briefing

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