Palace clarifies issues on state schools

MANILA, Philippines – The decrease in the proposed budget for state universities and colleges (SUCs) in 2010 would not have much of an impact on their operations, Malacañang clarified yesterday.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said “the decrease in the budget of state universities and colleges does not mean that the government is giving less priority to tertiary education or to the education sector as a whole.”

Andaya issued the statement in response to protests aired by the National Union of Students of the Philippines about the cut in the budget of the SUCs in 2010. The NUSP revealed that the SUCs’ budget would go down from P24.23 billion this year to P21.03 billion next year.

He emphasized that education continues to be on top of the Arroyo administration’s agenda as could be seen in the various programs and reforms the government has been implementing for this sector.

“I believe we must look beyond the cuts and see what the engraving has produced to appreciate its worth,” Andaya said.

Operationally, Andaya argued that the proposed budget is enough to cover all of the operational requirements of the SUCs. He explained that the drop in the budget for capital outlay (CO) of the SUCs was due to the current policy to provide only for completion of on-going infrastructure projects.

“This policy to provide CO funds only for completing projects is adopted not only for SUCs but for other departments and agencies of government,” Andaya said.

He pointed out that SUCs have several other sources of funds that they could tap if ever the need arises, adding that the SUCs would be provided with a P21-billion subsidy from the national government in 2010. On top of this, he added, they have around P10.2 billion in retained income, which they can use to augment their budgets.

Certain laws allow SUCs to receive donations and contributions and to retain their income generated from tuition fees and other charges, as well as income from intellectual property created by their faculty and personnel, he explained.

Unlike most other government agencies and instrumentalities, SUCs are not required to return their savings to the Bureau of Treasury.

Several of the SUCs also receive additional financial support from their congressional representatives through the provision of scholarships to deserving students and the Priority Development Assistance Fund. –Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star)