The Department of Budget and Management has proposed a P3.1-billion budget hike for UP that’s still a P21-billion gap from the university's request, which could sideline hundreds of infrastructure and academic projects across constituent units.

Much of the increase in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s  proposal of P25.8 billion for UP in the National Expenditure Program was funneled into personnel services, including salaries and bonuses and maintenance costs, which are P2.3 billion and P200 million higher than the approved allocation in 2025. 

Maintained funding for permanent faculty and staff is a modest victory for UP’s workforce, especially with  a bump of nearly half for the special compensation of public health workers. The additional P1.6-billion allocation for permanent positions may also come in handy for UP’s proposed 947 new plantilla positions, which include faculty, research, and administrative staff. However, honoraria have been reduced by almost 50%.

Just as in previous years, the government remains halfhearted in greenlighting the construction and renovation of buildings and structures, despite almost doubling last year’s budget for capital outlays to P950 million. DBM only approved four out of the 182 infrastructure projects and equipment requests UP proposed:

• UP Mindanao Sports Complex (P16.2 million)
• National Forensics Institute Phase II in Manila (P175 million)
• Office of the University Registrar/Communal Classroom Phase II in Los Baños (P300 million)
• Multi-Specialty Building Phase IV at the Philippine General Hospital (P450 million).

UP’s proposal for 2026 favored Diliman with a hefty P3.9 billion in capital and equipment outlays—the largest among constituent units—mostly meant for the renovation and completion of some college buildings. But DBM’s pared-down allocation distributed the scant infrastructure funding to other campuses.

Despite such allotment, constituent universities like Diliman, Los Baños, Mindanao, and Tacloban, which were supposed to get a bulk of infrastructure funding in 2026, will have to make do with limited spaces, as there were no mentions of funding in the NEP for other major academic facilities. Proposed additional dormitories and classrooms are expected to be cast aside.

While the Philippine General Hospital is set to receive funding for the continuation of its multi-specialty building, P450 million is only half of what UP requested. The hospital’s additional request of P1.7 billion for personnel and maintenance expenses and P1 billion for critical fire safety and compliance upgrades—which was marked by UP as a topmost priority—were excluded, reflecting a pattern of yearly underfunding for the country’s biggest public hospital.

Congressional deliberations could still increase UP’s budget as it has typically done in recent years. In 2025, for one, the university received an additional P300 million from DBM’s proposal after hearings.

At the hearings, university officials will be given a chance to argue for UP’s priority projects and funding, before the final approved budget in the General Appropriations Act for 2026. ●