Congress applauds increase in SUCs budget, CHED belies Palatino's allegations
14 August, 2012 - Quezon City – Members of Congress deliberated on the 2013 budgets of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). Present were CHED Officials headed by Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan, Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) president Dr. Ricardo E. Rotoras, University of the Philippines president Prof. Alfredo E. Pascual, Mindanao State University president Dr. Macapado A. Muslim, all 17 regional PASUC officers and presidents of other SUCs. The SUCs’ presidents expressed their appreciation to the Aquino administration and to Congress for the 44% marked increase in their 2013 budget.
Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino belittled this welcome development in a press release pointing out alleged “cover ups†and “deceptions†in the P37.1-billion SUCs budget as proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Rep. Palatino decried that parts of the budget will not go directly to the SUCs as P2.2-billion will go to Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and P2.1-billion for Retirement and Life Insurance Premiums (RLIP). He also cited three (3) SUCs that will get Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) cuts due to CHED’s normative funding formula and expressed concern that increases in SUCs tuition fees is inevitable. In response, Chairperson Licuanan denied these allegations saying, “While it is true that the RLIP cannot be used directly by the SUCs since it is disbursed by GSIS, its employees will benefit. Moreover, the MPBF can be accessed by SUCs to hire new personnel and fill up vacant positions. Bottom line is, the entire 37.1-billion will eventually redound to the SUCs, for their operations, facilities and employees.â€
In addition, Chairperson Licuanan clarified the issue of SUCs with cuts in MOOE saying “not three but only one SUC will receive a cut.†The three institutions are shown below with their corrected MOOE figures. Congressman Palatino cited incorrect 2012 MOOE figures for ASCOT and CTU that were actually from their 2012 Personnel Services (PS) allocation. “The truth is, ASCOT’s 2013 MOOE rose by more than 90%, while CTU’s MOOE increased by 150%,†Licuanan stated. “For AMPSC, the reduction of P1.6-million in their MOOE budget was due to the decrease in their enrollment. Despite AMPSC’s reduction, the increase in allotments for Personnel Services and Capital Outlays (CO) will offset the decrease in MOOE. AMPSC will still get an increase in its total budget in 2013,†Licuanan added. CHED also refutes the statement that SUCs are getting capital outlay only in 2013, and that only the University of the Philippines received CO for 2012.
Under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) about P3-billion was released for CO (released in Dec 2011 and utilizable in 2012) for all SUCs. The P3.4-billion for 2013 is the second installment of the administration’s commitment for the implementation of the 6-year Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform to be used to upgrade SUCs facilities, fund research development and extension, training and scholarships. In response to CHED’s appeals, the SUCs have consistently held back increasing their tuition fees for the past two years to address student financial pleas. CHED continues to give top priority to the funding requirements of SUCs. Other budget sources include: the P768-million Higher Education Development Fund for SUCs; the P500-million for Growth Areas to fund the BPO, Tourism, Agri-fisheries, Emerging Industries, and Innovation sectors; the P771-million fund for Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs); and the SUCs’ income-generating projects (IGPs). In addition, CHED has identified together with the DSWD 4,041 poorest of the poor beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTP) that will avail of the P500-million out of the DAP. Chairperson Licuanan concedes that, “The 2013 SUCs budget may not be enough. But it is a substantial increase and is good for now.â€
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