Members of the House of Representatives attend the opening of the second regular session of the 20th Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on July 27, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Lawmakers at the House of Representatives pushed for a substantial financial boost for key government programs during a hearing focusing on proposed adjustments to the upcoming national spending plan.
During the proceedings of the House Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee (BARSc), Vice Chairperson and Assistant Majority Leader Johanne Monich Bautista, proposed augmenting the budget for the labor department’s Integrated Livelihood Program and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP).
"I move for the increase of P113 million for the DILEEP program. That would be from P2,227,092,000 to P2,340,092,000," Bautista said.
The motion was approved.
Combined with a previous P5-billion increase allocated for the TUPAD program, the total funding increase secured for the Department of Labor and Employment reached P5.11 billion.
BOOSTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
The subcommittee also deliberated on expanding the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to give grassroots leaders more autonomy in executing community projects.
Deputy Speaker Bambi Emano emphasized the daily realities faced by local chief executives and legislators, noting that local officials frequently seek financial assistance for public works and community services.
"When you're [a] mayor, barangay captain will line up in your office to ask for programs and projects. When you're governor, same. When you're a congressman, same. Even the Senate and even to the office of the President," Emano explained.
He said expanding the LGSF would "teach our local government units, barangay, municipal, and provincial empowerment that they will be able to implement projects of their own choosing and hopefully what their barangay, the municipal, the city, and the province needs."
He outlined a target framework for fund distribution.
"For barangay, hopefully, we will be able to follow the 5 million soft, 10 million hard, 20 for municipal, 50 for city, and 50 million for province," he said.
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To operationalize this initiative, Emano formally moved to augment the fund.
"I move that we add to the Local Government Support Fund from the NEP of 58,532,578 and increase it and add 4,091,400,000,” he said.
The motion was duly seconded and opened for evaluation by House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Mikaela Angela Suansing.
DIALOGUE OPENS ON FUND SAFEGUARDS
While the LGSF funding increase moved forward, the discussion also touched on accountability mechanisms.
Majority Leader Marcelino Libanan raised concerns shared by minority members regarding transparency and internal controls.
"Ito po yung subject matter ng ating interpellation dahil kulang tayo ng safeguards sa LGSF kung pwede malagyan ng special provision para sa LGSF natin. Yun ang hiling ng ilang member ng minoriya," he noted.
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In response, Suansing pointed out that accountability measures were in place.
"I believe being the one who defended the lump sum funds, there were several safeguards that were mentioned. First is with regard to the criteria and guidelines for the release of LGSF, particularly for FALGU. And the second is to put additional reportorial requirements for the monitoring of the implementation of FALGU," she said.
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To address the minority's concerns comprehensively, Suansing invited lawmakers to submit concrete recommendations.
“If there is a proposed wording po coming from the members of the minority, we would be very happy po to look through it and for consideration,” she said.
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