SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said he will propose an additional funding of P3.9 billion for the government’s free higher education program to fill in the looming budget deficit for state universities and colleges (SUCs) under the proposed 2025 national budget.
Gatchalian said the proposed P23.38 billion budget for free higher education falls short of the estimate given by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) that around P27.078 billion is needed to fully fund the program.
His office, on the other hand, has come up with a P27.3 spending requirement to fully implement the program.
This, Gatchalian said, would be a deficit of as much as P3.9 billion.
He said that if the budget gap is not addressed, SUCs will not be able to hire more instructors, purchase learning equipment, and build more facilities needed to deliver quality tertiary education.
“The free higher education will yield the country more students who will graduate with a diploma and that will enable them to get meaningful jobs,” said Gatchalian, one of the authors and co-sponsors of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (Republic Act No. 10931), better known as the Free Higher Education Law.
Gatchalian said he will request Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, during the plenary deliberations of the budget measure to realign portions of the financial assistance packages allotted for programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the free higher education program.
“Ang hinihingi naman ng SUCs ay P3 billion in addition, kaya kukurot lang tayo doon sa P591.8 billion na pondo ng mga programang pang ayuda para mapununan natin ang kailangan sa free higher education (The SUCs are asking for around P3 billion additional budget. Maybe we can get it from the P591.8 billion budget for financial assistance programs so we can fill in the budget deficit for free higher education),” he said.
The senator is referring to the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), and DOLE’s Tulong Pang-hanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
The free higher education program has increased the enrollment in higher education.
From 2.9 million during the School Year 2017-2018, or before the enactment of RA 10931, enrollment in higher education went up to 5.09 million for SY 2023-2024.
