Philippine SUCs Faculty, Staff Decry Proposed 2027 Budget Cuts

Faculty members and staff from State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) across the Philippines have strongly voiced their opposition to the proposed budget cuts for the 2027 fiscal year. In a unity statement, over 100 SUCs' faculty, staff, school personnel, and groups nationwide pointed out that the 'severe underfunding' of public tertiary education fails to address the 'worsening' education crisis in the country. They are urgently calling for the reversal of budget cuts and a significant increase in the national budget for public higher education. Under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the total budget for SUCs is earmarked at P141.090 billion, an increase of 4.5% from the P134.991 billion allocated in the 2026 NEP. However, this overall increase masks significant disparities, with 49 out of 116 SUCs facing direct budget cuts. Only seven institutions are set to receive funding increases of less than 1%. The proposed budget slashes Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) by 3%, amounting to P1.4 billion, and Capital Outlay (CO) by a substantial 60%, or P9.4 billion. These funds are crucial for utility payments, facility maintenance, and the construction of new classrooms and laboratories, making these cuts a severe blow to university operations. Signatories warned that 'these drastic cuts cripple the basic administration and operations of SUCs by stripping away funds... necessary to accommodate an expanding student population.' They added that the reduction in MOOE 'directly jeopardizes the grant of hard-earned Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentives and other benefits for faculty and staff.' The University of the Philippines (UP) System faces the largest reduction, with a cut of nearly P2.95 billion. UP Diliman stated that these cuts would disproportionately affect instruction, research, and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), with hospital services funding dropping from P8.839 billion to P7.572 billion. The university administration criticized the allocation, asking, 'We ask further to redirect to education the funds that have proven prone to plunder: billions have been lost to ghost flood control projects while the University is told there is no money for classrooms, laboratories, and its hospital.' They asserted, 'The nation’s money must build the nation’s capacities: an educated people, a working science and research, a health system that serves, and access to social services for all Filipinos.' The Philippine Normal University (PNU) and Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) are also set to see reductions of P394.9 million and P291.8 million, respectively. Regionally, the Eastern Visayas region has the most SUCs facing budget cuts. Meanwhile, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) each have one institution facing a budget cut. These budget cuts raise serious concerns about the quality and accessibility of higher education in the Philippines. The impact is expected to be particularly severe on SUCs in regional areas, potentially exacerbating educational disparities across the country.