UP is set to receive a P508-million budget hike next year, reversing the proposed P2.9-B budget cut proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
However, the total budget of P24.8 billion for the entire UP System is still significantly lower than the P40.8 billion budget that the university initially asked for. The 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday gave funding to big-ticket infrastructure projects while sustaining cuts to operating expenses such as utilities, supplies and materials.
Previously, the DBM’s proposal only allowed UP to procure laboratory equipment for UP Los Baños’s BIOTECH worth P25 million, reasoning that only existing projects needed to be funded for next year. However, the final GAA has since reversed this, increasing the budget for infrastructure projects to P3.1 billion compared to this year’s P1.7 billion.
The biggest chunk of the infrastructure budget went to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH)–with the Pediatric and Adult Specialty Center, Training Center, and dormitory for healthcare workers already worth P1 billion in total. Furthermore, the renovation of the PGH’s fire suppression system was given P250 million.
However, the funding for hospital services of the PGH will be cut from P5.41 billion this year to P4.96 billion in 2024. Likewise, the funding for medical assistance for indigent patients will be slashed from P828 million this year to just P634 million next year.
Other infrastructure projects include the new National Institute of Health in UP Manila (P587 million), the renovation of the University Health Service building of the UP System (P125 million), site development of campus buildings in UP Mindanao (P140 million), and the renovation of the College of Music building (P120 million).
The infrastructure spending spree also includes funding for the Technology Innovation Campus in Dasmariñas, Cavite worth P300 million. The land was given to UP by Vista Land, owned by the Villar clan. A scion of the billionaire Villar couple, Sen. Mark Villar, was conferred an honorary degree earlier this year, which then UP Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Jose Wendell Capili said was the norm for benefactors of the university.
The increased infrastructure budget came at the cost of maintenance and operating expenses, which dipped to P6.82 billion compared to last year’s P8.11 billion budget. The bulk of these cuts were to supplies and materials (P410 million cut), utilities (P280 million cut), general services (P113 million cut), communications expenses (P64 million cut), and awards (P51 million cut).
While the budget for scholarships was cut drastically from P851 million to P448 million, this was offset by an increase in the budget for financial subsidies, going from P1.86 billion to P2.26 billion. The increase in UP’s financial subsidy system Student Learning Assistance System (SLAS) could grant reprieve to students no longer covered by the Free Tuition Law.
Still, even if there are newly funded infrastructure projects, the cuts to utilities and other expenses could exacerbate the problem with the lack of equipment, electricity, and other supplies that leaders from various state universities and colleges wanted addressed. ●
