New Reforms in Budget Process Unveiled
MANILA, Philippines — Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing is set to push reforms in the budget process at the House of Representatives. Central to her plan is the abolition of the “small committee,” a long-standing part of the budget approval system.
As the new chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, Suansing said she will propose creating a subcommittee to handle amendments to the annual budget, known as the National Expenditures Program (NEP). This subcommittee will review changes suggested by both government agencies and lawmakers.
Abolishing the Small Committee
Unlike the small committee, which forms after the House approves the budget bill on its final reading, the proposed subcommittee would be established at the beginning of budget deliberations. This shift aims to improve transparency and efficiency in managing the complicated amendment process.
“The first reform that I want to propose is that we will abolish the practice of forming a small committee to deliberate on institutional amendments. For context, navigating proposed amendments in the budget process for the House is always very complicated, there are many departments, many agencies, who advocate for changes to their budget, but at the same time we have to navigate through 317 congressmen,” Suansing said.
She added that the budget amendment process has traditionally been difficult because of the sheer volume of proposed changes. To address this, she wants the new subcommittee on budget amendments review under the committee on appropriations.
Subcommittee Structure and Operations
This subcommittee will be led by a senior vice chairperson or vice chairperson of the appropriations committee. It will include members nominated by each political party, along with party-list coalition members nominated by the Minority.
“So we will see that this will be exhaustive, maybe there are times that discussions regarding the amendments will be intense. But that’s what we want, that there is a thorough deliberation of all aspects related to the budget,” Suansing explained.
The subcommittee will operate parallel to the main appropriations committee’s budget deliberations. It will continuously receive and discuss proposed amendments throughout the budget season, spanning late August to October.
Importantly, Suansing emphasized that these deliberations will be open to the public. “That’s why the deliberations will continue, and the important part is that the deliberations are open to the public. We will fix the guidelines, but maybe every week or every two weeks there will be deliberations of this subcommittee,” she said in Filipino.
“But all deliberations will be open to the public. This means people would see what are the proposed amendments, what are the deliberations done, and most importantly, what are the approved amendments that were inserted into our proposed budget,” she added.
Calls for Transparency and Context
In addition to abolishing the small committee, Suansing supports calls from House leaders to open bicameral conference committee discussions to public scrutiny. House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez recently highlighted transparency as a key tool to combat corruption.
Romualdez’s remarks followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address, where the President warned that he would reject any budget not aligned with the administration’s priorities, even if it means reenacting the previous budget.
This warning came amid concerns over possible corruption affecting funds for flood control projects and other critical programs.
Background on Small Committee Criticism
The small committee practice has faced criticism for sidestepping House rules. Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco questioned the House’s disregard for its own procedures, noting that amendments should be finalized before the bill’s second reading, not after.
Due to time pressures, some amendments are deferred to the small committee, which finalizes the bill post-third reading. Before the 20th Congress opened, Tiangco expressed readiness to lead the appropriations committee if leadership allowed full control over budget crafting. However, Suansing was chosen instead.
Suansing, daughter of former lawmakers Horacio Suansing Jr. and Estrellita Suansing, holds an undergraduate degree from Ateneo de Manila University and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University. Despite being a neophyte lawmaker, she has been active in committee hearings, advocating for key legislation such as amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law.
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