Lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Thursday sought the restoration of more than P14 billion that was slashed in the proposed budget for state universities and colleges (SUCs) for 2025.
The 2025 National Expenditure Program showed that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed the budget for SUCs by PHP14.481 billion, or 11.29 percent, in their budgets for maintenance, operations, and infrastructure.
The Makabayan bloc, led by the Kabataan Party-list, filed House Resolution 1983 seeking to restore the budget cuts in 28 out of the 116 SUCs.
Among the higher education institutions with the biggest budget cuts are the Romblon State University (down by 81.89 percent), Marinduque State College (down by 81.76 percent), Cebu Normal University (down by 78.79 percent), and Bicol University (down by 66.76 percent).
The University of the Philippines System suffered a budget decrease of 9.83 percent, or about PHP2.4 billion, in its proposed budget for next year.
“What our state schools need is a substantial increase – an additional budget that could match their actual funding requirement,” the resolution read.
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