PARTY-LIST Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan rapped Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad for approving only P43.8 billion out of the P82.6-billion total budget request of the country’s 114 state universities and colleges (SUCs) for 2016.
“Sa madaling salita po, sa bawat dalawang pisong pangangailangan ng ating mga pampublikong kolehiyo at unibersidad, piso lang ang inilalaan ng gobyerno,” Ridon told the House plenary during the deliberation of the budget of SUCs earlier on Friday.
Data compiled from the original proposals submitted by state schools to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed the 114 SUCs actually proposed a total of P82.6 billion for 2016, of which P37.4 billion is for personnel services (PS), P15.7 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and P29.5 billion for capital outlay (CO).
However, when the DBM finalized the 2016 national budget, the agency only approved P43.8 billion, or about 53 percent of the original request, broken down as follows: P26.9 billion for PS; P11.1 billion for MOOE, and; P43.8 billion for CO.
“When we talk about government funding for SUCs, we need to consider their actual funding requirement. This data reveals how grossly insufficient the budget for SUCs remain to be, despite annual nominal increases,” Ridon said.
“Worse, data from the DBM reveal that the annual subsidy for state schools—despite its gradual increase over the years— fall short by an average of P16 billion,” the lawmaker added. Data from DBM’s Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing proved that, while the total expenditure of 114 SUCs amounts to an average of P59 billion annually, government provision for SUCs falls short by P16 billion, or an average of only P43 billion since 2014. To compensate for the lack in subsidy, SUCs are compelled to earn their own income through various means, including charging tuition and other fees, and utilizing assets.
Since 2010, the average internal income of all SUCs amounted to an average of P36 billion, two-thirds or almost P11 billion of which comes from fees paid by students.
Next year DBM projects that SUCs will spend a total of P62.7 billion, of which P16.7 billion is expected to be financed by internal income. “Students are the real victims in the continued underfunding of the government for our SUCs. Due to insufficient funds, state schools intensify the collection of tuition and various fees,” Ridon said. The legislator reiterated the urgent need for Congress to provide sufficient funding for public higher education.