Bersamin says ‘nothing malicious’ with ‘clean your house’ remark

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Monday said he meant “nothing malicious” in his strongly worded statement, urging lawmakers to “clean your house first” amid public criticisms over allegations of corruption on the issue of the national budget in relation to the flood control mess.

“There is nothing intended that is malicious or to malign anyone in the House of Representatives,” Bersamin told House Minority leader and 4Ps Rep. Marcelino Libanan.

Bersamin on Monday attended the House Committee on Appropriations briefings to defend the Office of President’s (OP) proposed P27.362-billion budget under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“There are pressing issues that need to be clarified,” Libanan said before he moved for the termination of the discussions on the OP budget proposal. He went on to read the statement of Bersamin on September 6:

“The Cabinet strongly objects to the recent spins coming from certain members of the House of Representatives who are thereby attempting to shift the blame for their own corruption and failures onto the Executive Branch,” Libanan said, quoting Bersamin.

“All our investigations into the anomalies will be futile if the sources of corruption remain unchecked. Hence, we urge the House of Representatives to heed the demand of the people for full accountability: CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FIRST!” the lawmaker, still quoting Bersamin’s words.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” Bersamin said in response. “But we came here in good faith. We just would like to emphasize that any part of that statement is our statement. We will not shirk from that or avoid the impact,” he added.

Bersamin was quick to say his statement issued on Saturday “was a consensus of the Cabinet.”

“It was more to emphasize our constitutional position and separation and to elicit cooperation and support from the House of Representatives, more than any other,” the executive secretary explained.

“We do not intend to rile up the tension between our departments… We come here seeking your support for our institutional budget. I think that is all that I can say at this time,” he added.

Citing institutional courtesy, the House appropriations panel, chaired by Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, swifty approved the 2026 proposed budget of the OP at P27.28 billion. The OP budget is a 72 percent increase from the current year’s P15.8 billion.

In his presentation, Bersamin said some P17.5 billion of the proposed P27.28 billion OP budget is allocated for the hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Philippines.