UP Diliman (UPD) was allotted the biggest infrastructure budget of all constituent universities (P2.58 billion) in UP’s proposed P46.85-billion budget for 2026, approved March 27 by the Board of Regents.
The system’s proposed budget, up P7.56 billion from last year’s proposal and up P24.16 billion from the approved 2025 budget, follows the trend of UP’s increasingly large budget proposals and prioritization of big-ticket infrastructure projects since former UP President Danilo Concepcion’s term.
Infrastructure, or capital outlays, made up the greatest portion of the additional budget for the UP system at P10.98 billion, followed by personnel services (P5.77 billion), equipment and vehicle outlays (P4.02 billion), and maintenance and other operating expenses (P3.07 billion). This infrastructure budget seems to be focused on already existing projects.
Prioritizing Diliman
If the proposal is approved, Diliman will see a sharp increase in infrastructure projects, from 13 proposed projects last year to 48 this year.
At the College of Engineering, UPD’s most populous college, additional labs and classrooms in the Department of Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials Engineering (P128.25 million) could address the lack of student spaces. Similarly, P135.95 million was allocated for the Department of Computer Science’s new building.
Other planned renovations include, according to priority:
● College of Human Kinetics buildings (P100 million)
● College of Media and Communication’s Plaridel Hall, Media Center and other facilities (P150 million)
● College of Fine Arts Bartlett Hall Auditorium (P25 million) and Bartlett Hall (P100 million)
● College of Home Economics’s Alonso Hall (P150 million)
● College of Music’s Abelardo Hall and other facilities (P123 million)
Although these projects aim to improve the quality of academic spaces, they may also temporarily displace members of the UP community during their actual construction, similar to what many Palma Hall-based organizations experienced.
A small portion of the budget was also allocated to the redevelopment of the entrance to University Avenue (P15 million) following the planned MRT-7 station connection to the university.
Regional Revamps
In UP Mindanao (UPMin), the expansion of academic facilities (P1.95 billion) was the single largest infrastructure project in the entire proposal, boasting a budget more than P100 million higher than UPMin’s entire infrastructure budget last year.
This is in line with the admin’s R2-5K program, which aims to increase the enrollment of UPMin to 5,000 students by 2029. For this purpose, P41.89 million was also allocated for the expansion of academic programs.
Additional UPMin projects like the renovation of Kalimudan Student Center facilities and canteen (P100 million) and the construction of pedestrian and bike lanes (P120 million) underscore UP President Angelo Jimenez’s affinity toward the campus, which he has highlighted since his investiture.
At the Philippine General Hospital, funds for fire safety compliance (P1 billion) were marked as the top priority out of all projects, likely as a response to repeated fire incidents—three occurred last year alone.
Other major allotments, according to priority:
● Completion of UP Open University’s New Clark City satellite campus (P130 million)
● Phase 4 of UP Los Baños University Library (P300 million)
● New buildings in UP Manila School of Health Sciences’s Baler, Palo, and Koronadal campuses (P360 million)
● Lab equipment, machinery, and other equipment for UP Manila (P1.10 billion)
Allocations for UP Tacloban’s Sta. Elena campus were readded this year with a budget of P912.64 million, down from last year’s proposed P1.08 billion. The campus has previously been criticized by UP Tacloban students for intensifying commercialization as the campus development plan depicted commercial areas larger than academic spaces.
Three of the big-ticket proposals for the Sta. Elena campus, however, were ranked low in the priority list, which may point to the administration’s expectations that these projects will be cut.
Budget Outlook
The proposal only represents the first stage of budget preparation for the university and will still be scrutinized by various government agencies in the months to come.
In the last decade, UP’s requested budgets have never been fully approved. The UP admin has followed the pattern of bloating its budget proposals since the Concepcion administration, persisting under Jimenez.
This strategy appears to have mixed results in increasing UP’s approved budget. While the budget did increase sharply from 2017 to 2022, it remained roughly the same from 2022 onwards, save for this year when the university received its largest budget cut since 1986.
The Department of Budget and Management will craft the National Expenditure Program based on UP’s proposal. Congress will then draft the General Appropriations Act, which will be finalized and signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ●
