The University of the Philippines (UP) System could face a P2.4-billion budget cut after the House of Representatives (HOR) passed the 2025 national budget on its third and final reading last Sept. 26.
UP has submitted a P39-billion budget proposal for 2025, with nearly P10.7 billion allocated for capital outlays (CO). However, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has only approved P22.3 billion, which is just over half of UP’s request.
In the 2024 General Appropriations Act, UP was given P3.09 billion to spend on COs. This year, the DBM only allowed UP to spend P202 million building and renovating academic buildings and facilities.
Meanwhile, P15 billion will be dedicated to Personnel Services (PS) and P6 billion for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).
UP’s infrastructure plans are likely to face delays due to budgetary constraints unless the university can secure alternative funding to proceed with the projects.
The university’s budget next year is not yet final as the Senate will make its own version of the General Appropriations Bill. However, UP is again expected to face a budget deficit, similar to the previous iterations of the national budget. Last year, UP was given P16 billion short of what the university initially requested.
Because of the budget deficit, UP has been implementing revenue-generating activities to fund its projects. The university, through the 2014 approved Master Development Plan (UPMDP), sources funding by utilizing UP’s land assets. This has led to the construction of commercial establishments inside the university.
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In 2013, Ayala Land Inc. used UP Integrated School’s space to build UP Town Center. It was also the property developer who constructed the 37.5 hectares UP Ayala Technohub.
This year, another corporate-controlled establishment–Dilimall–is set to open, replacing the old Shopping Center (SC) on Laurel Avenue. Fast-food chains, a grocery and an appliance store will be some of the tenants in DiliMall, displacing former SC tenants, according to the floor plan released by the UP Diliman University Student Council.
READ: Vendors, students launch UP Not for Sale Network amid DiliMall’s looming opening
Budget utilization
Including UP, state universities and colleges (SUCs) are set to face a P14.48-billion budget cut for 2025.
Some of the SUCs that will suffer the biggest budget cuts are Romblon State University, Marinduque State College, and Cebu Normal University with a budget decrease of 81.89%, 81.76%, and 78.79% respectively.
The “failure” of the SUCs and LUCs to utilize their budget well is one of the possible reasons for funding cuts, according to another CHED budget sponsor Rep. Janette Garin.
“Now I understand why DBM refuses to augment some state universities and colleges’ [budget] because in CHED, we keep on pushing DBM to allocate more but the DBM would always answer a conditional yes. In other words, yes, we are going to release funds but let them [SUCs] use their income first,” Garin said.
Garin also emphasized in the deliberations that the faster an agency utilizes their funds, the more subsidies would be allotted to them.
For instance, a Collegian report on March 29 revealed that the UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), which depends on UP System’s budget, has not started the procurement for the hospital’s fire suppression system.
The Commission on Audit (COA), in its 2022 audit report, flagged UP’s fund utilization.
The report revealed that UP failed to maximize their funds, which resulted in “delays in the full and timely implementation of planned programs/projects.”
In particular, there is a P109-billion unutilized fund for UP’s infrastructure projects.
Stop Budget Cuts
Kabataan Party-list, led by Rep. Raoul Manuel, filed House Resolution No. 1983 last Aug. 29 urging the lower chamber’s Committee on Appropriations to provide ample funding for SUCs.
“These budget cuts only contradict the policy of the state to prioritize education, amidst the worsening learning crisis that necessitates more resources in order to meet the needs of students, teachers, and the whole of the education sector,” the house resolution stated.
Manuel emphasized in a video posted on Facebook the need to realign confidential and intelligence funds to the education sector.
The DBM proposed a P10.29-billion budget for Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIF) for 2025.
While the Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not request for confidential funds for next year, the Office of the President (OP) would still receive a total of P4.5 billion for CIF.
Administrators of 39 SUCs including UP President Angelo Jimenez, also signed a unity statement on Sept. 19 calling for the restoration of the proposed budget cut on SUCs and to augment the Higher Education Budget in 2025.
The signatories emphasized the importance of funding SUCs to perform their duties.
“Additional budget is needed for our learning institutions to regain their public character and provide ample support for student services and faculty development. If our SUCs are expected to carry out their duties as higher education institutions, they must be funded accordingly,” the statement reads.
The passage of the 2025 budget on the lower house came two days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified the budget bill as “urgent.”