QUEZON CITY — Batangas First District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste has formally requested the House of Representatives to redirect ₱12 million in accumulated office operating funds toward victims of earthquakes, typhoons, and other disasters, while simultaneously renewing his challenge over how the chamber dispenses its ₱18.58-billion maintenance budget for 2026.
In a letter dated June 10, 2026, addressed to Maria Nenita M. Casem, technical staff chief of the House Committee on Accounts, Leviste asked that ₱12 million in Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) "due for my office since the start of the 20th Congress" be reallocated for calamity victims, rather than collected by his office.
The lawmaker disclosed that cheques totaling close to ₱1 million per month for his office's MOOE had been accumulating since July 2025, and that he had not collected any of them. He also asked the Committee on Accounts to clarify whether additional MOOE was available to his office from the total House MOOE allocation, so that those funds too could be directed toward disaster relief.
Leviste Calls for Broader Reallocation Beyond Individual Members
Beyond his personal MOOE, Leviste urged the House as an institution to commit a more significant share of its total operating budget to disaster relief — not just through contributions from individual members acting on their own initiative.
"I also respectfully propose that the House allocate a more substantial portion of its MOOE budget for disaster victims, beyond the contributions of individual members," Leviste wrote in his June 10 letter, adding that he was open to whatever mechanism the Committee on Accounts proposed, "as long as we can maximize the amount that goes towards helping disaster victims."
In a Facebook post explaining his actions, the first-term lawmaker said he had gone to Congress earlier that day to press the committee directly on where the chamber's ₱18.58 billion in MOOE for 2026 is being spent. He estimated the budget works out to roughly ₱58.42 million per lawmaker — a figure he said should, in large part, be going to relief goods and other assistance for Filipinos affected by recent calamities.
Leviste Questions 'Liquidation by Certification' and Lack of Receipts
At the core of Leviste's challenge is a spending mechanism he describes as "liquidation by certification" — a process he says does not require official receipts, and which he argues creates conditions in which public funds cannot be fully accounted for.
The lawmaker said that no one had been able to explain to him where the bulk of the MOOE money goes, which is why he has continued to raise the issue. He claimed a large portion is distributed to lawmakers to spend through the certification process, which some have characterized as a form of "bonus" for members of the House.
"My apologies to my colleagues, but I cannot bear not to question where receipt-less funds go, especially now that we see how many of our countrymen are in need," Leviste said, in Filipino, in his public statement.
He acknowledged his posts on the matter have drawn criticism from fellow legislators. Some colleagues, he said, told him they use the funds to provide assistance in their districts. However, he questioned how that could be verified without receipts. "But if there are no receipts, how can we be sure this money really reaches the public?" he asked.
His concrete proposal: redirect what he characterized as "bonuses" for both representatives and senators to calamity victims, beginning with ₱2 billion in the current month of June 2026.
House Colleagues Push Back on 'Bonus' Characterization
House figures have consistently rejected Leviste's framing of the MOOE disbursements as "bonuses." Their positions were established in response to an earlier wave of controversy he triggered in late 2025, when he posted images of cheques issued to his office and labelled similar disbursements a P2-million "Christmas bonus."
Palawan Representative Jose Alvarez, a senior member of the House appropriations panel, said there was nothing irregular about the cheques and that they were standard, lawful disbursements for district office operations. He did not characterize them as bonuses.
Lanao del Sur Representative Ziaur-Rahman Adiong called the "Christmas bonus" label unfair and misleading, stating the funds were routine MOOE intended for office operations, not additional compensation. Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon said the only December bonuses lawmakers receive are the standard 13th-month pay and mid-year pay that all government employees receive under existing law.
None of the House figures who previously commented had issued new public statements in direct response to Leviste's June 10 letter as of the date of this report.
MOOE Budget Jumped from ₱10.75 Billion to ₱18.58 Billion
The June 10 letter is the latest move in a months-long campaign by Leviste, who has been pressing the Committee on Accounts to explain a significant increase in the House's maintenance budget. According to Leviste, the House MOOE rose from ₱10.75 billion to ₱18.58 billion — a jump of approximately ₱7.83 billion — and he said he has formally asked for a detailed breakdown of that increase but has received no response.
Much of that spending, he has argued, is liquidated through the certification process, which he contends leaves room for funds to be misused or diverted without detection.
The Committee on Accounts had not publicly responded to the June 10 letter as of the date of this report. Leviste's office did not indicate whether it had received a private reply from the committee.
Leviste's Profile: First-Term Lawmaker, Solar Philippines Founder
Leandro Legarda Leviste, 33, is the son of Senator Loren Legarda and the founder of Solar Philippines, a domestic renewable energy company. He won the Batangas first district seat in the 2025 elections with what was described as a record vote total, and has since positioned himself as an internal critic of the House's budgetary processes.
Since taking his seat in the 20th Congress, Leviste has said he declines both his salary and his MOOE, citing his objections to how the chamber manages public funds. He has used social media — particularly Facebook — to publicize his positions, a strategy that has generated both public attention and significant friction with colleagues.
His late-2025 posts showing cheques issued to his office prompted sharp rebukes from senior House members at the time, though Leviste has continued to pursue the same line of accountability questions into the first half of 2026.
Request Comes as Disaster Relief Demands Remain Elevated
The timing of Leviste's renewed appeal coincides with an elevated demand for government disaster relief across the country. The Philippines has been grappling with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake and a series of typhoons that struck in recent months, driving up the need for government-funded aid, relief goods, and rehabilitation assistance.
Leviste's letter did not specify which disaster events his proposed reallocation would prioritize, but he noted in his Facebook statement that he wanted funds directed to those "battered by recent disasters," and expressed hope that the House would act on the proposal at scale — not just through the individual contributions of willing members.
As of June 13, 2026, the Committee on Accounts had not issued a public response to the June 10 letter, and no House leadership figure had made a formal statement addressing the proposal for a broader reallocation of the chamber's MOOE to calamity relief.
This article is based on a letter and a public statement issued by Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste, with additional reporting from published accounts of the wider MOOE dispute. Statements attributed to other lawmakers reflect their previously reported positions.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste / Facebook