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Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
December 31, 2025 | 12:00am
Puno: Not bonus, but additional funding
MANILA, Philippines — Each of the 318 congressmen – including party-list representatives – may receive P2 million as “Christmas bonus,” coinciding with the signing of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill, Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Leviste said yesterday.
“On top of the salary of each congressman, we have a monthly operating budget in our offices. That is more or less P1 million, and today, we have extra being given to us. First, it is Christmas. Second, the bonuses are released in time for the voting for the budget,” Leviste told reporters. He admitted he learned of the bonus only from other congressmen.
He said congressmen earn P300,000 a month as salary.
House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno said it was not a Christmas bonus but “additional funding for your Christmas requirements in your district,” adding that the funds are recorded and subject to government audit.
“Magki-Christmas party ka sa mga barangay captain mo, mag-health activity ka, you will do mga consultations.”
Leviste said one of the usual problems ahead of voting on the national budget is getting a quorum.
“From what I know, Congress has difficulties in getting a quorum and they will make sure to get a quorum and maybe, it helped when the bonuses are released during the voting in the budget,” he said.
“It turned out that the take home pay of each congressman, the MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses) and the salary times 318 (congressmen) would be over P1 billion. I am mentioning this because I want to ask why we are increasing it to P10.5 billion, of which the bulk or P7.8 billion goes to the MOOE and it means that the fund included in the increase is the payment for our own bonuses, including the P2 million for each congressman today (Dec. 29),” Leviste said.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), meanwhile, has belied allegations by Leviste that Secretary Vince Dizon had insertions in the national budget for flood control projects during his five-year tenure as president and chief executive officer of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) during the Duterte administration.
“Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon categorically denies the baseless and malicious allegations made by Rep. Leandro Leviste regarding supposed ‘insertions’ or ‘allocables’,” the DPWH said in a statement yesterday.
The DPWH said that the BCDA, which Dizon headed from August 2016 to October 2021, had already issued a statement denying having flood control projects funded through budget insertions, “allocable funds” or any discretionary source.
“The timing of Rep. Leviste’s allegations also raises suspicion after reports of some Department of Public Works and Highways staff surfaced, accusing the lawmaker of forcefully and illegally getting files from the late undersecretary Catalina Cabral,” the DPWH said, referring to the official who died of apparent suicide after jumping off a cliff on Kennon Road early this month.
The DPWH was referring to a report on GMA News Monday night that Leviste visted Cabral’s office on Sept. 4 and forcibly downloaded files from her computer and took photos of documents on the 2025 National Expenditure Program and the General Appropriations Bill.
The former DPWH official, according to her staff, even sustained paper cut during a scuffle with Leviste.
In the same report, Dizon denied giving his approval to Leviste’s retrieval of files from Cabral’s office.
“His stealing files from her computer, it has no imprimatur. His scuffle with Cabral while trying to snatch some papers, it has no imprimatur,” Dizon said. “Why would I give that imprimatur?”
He also noted that relevant documents are already in the possession Office of the Ombudsman. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Artemio Dumlao
