MANILA, Philippines — Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste has filed a resolution urging Congress to allocate P14 billion from its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) budget to fund food packs for disaster victims.
Leviste also questioned the "bonuses" allegedly given to House lawmakers amounting to as much as P5 million during the legislative break.
He filed House Resolution 1118 on Monday urging Congress to allocate the MOOE for "bonuses" to fund food packs for those who have been affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Southern Mindanao.
He told reporters the P14 billion of the P23.89 billion MOOE for 2026 could fund food packs or sacks of rice while still leaving Congress with P9.89 million.
"We do not need a supplemental budget because we have the budget from the House of Representatives and the Senate that we can give directly to those who need it," Leviste said.
Much of the MOOE given to lawmakers was only "liquidated" by certification by the Commission on Audit, presenting checks showing how members of the House gets a basic MOOE of P1 million per month for office and other operating expenses with no receipts needed to support reimbursements.
During his discussions with the House Committee on Accounts, Leviste said at least P10 billion of the P18.58 billion House MOOE budget goes to unidentified uses.
He said that some congressmen were not able to receive any bonuses or additional MOOE after they did not go along with the majority's wishes.
"I don't want to allege that some of them have not received their break bonus. The basic fact is some have received break bonuses, others did not," Leviste said.
He said General Santos Rep. Sherlyn Banas-Nograles, whose province was badly hit by the earthquake, did not receive any MOOE after she voted against the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
