Tuition at SUCs to rise more than 300% in 2011?

MANILA, Philippines – A state university professor fears that tuition increases may hit more than 300% next year at the campuses of the University of the Philippines and 112 other state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide to augment  budget cuts amounting to billions of pesos for 2011.

Prof. Carl Marc Remota, chair of the UP Manila Social Science Department, said that in 2006, UP had a budget cut amounting to P357 million pesos, and the following year, 2007, the UP administration implemented a 300% tuition increase.

Now, the budget cut will amount to P1.1 billion for SUCs and P1.3 billion for UP. Remota said this could again mean a more than 300% tuition increase for next year.

Remota added the budget cut could spell trouble for the maintenance and operational expenses of the SUC’s.

“Kung bulok na ang gamit ngayon, higit pang magiging bulok, madedelay ang mga sweldo, at mas marami ang hindi na makakatuntong sa kolehiyo,” he said.

Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, meanwhile, said while there was a budget cut in the education, there were some additions to unnecessary expenditures like the additional P50 million of pork barrel for each member of the House of Representatives.

“Sa halip na dito napunta, sana nilagay na lang sa mas mahalagang gastusin,” Casiño said.

Drilon: No budget cut

But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon said there was no budget cut.

“For the record, we did not remove anything. What happened is that in the 2010 budget, embedded in that budget are congressional insertions… to the amount of over P2.8 billion,” Drilon said, adding that the congressional initiatives came from realignments from debt service interest payments due to “disagreements” in the peso-dollar exchange rate.

In fact, Drilon said, subsidies to SUCs have been increased in next year’s budget to P21.7 billion, from only P19.6 billion submitted by Arroyo for congressional approval.

When the 2010 budget was approved, a total of P2.8 billion has been padded as congressional insertions by lawmakers, bringing the total budget of SUCs to P22.4 billion.

In the 2011 budget, President Benigno Aquino III submitted to Congress P21.7 billion for SUC subsidies.

“These are insertions which could not be possibly sustained. President Aquino’s budget for 2011, in fact, increased Arroyo’s budget by P2.125 billion for SUCs except that the congressional insertions were not continued,” Drilon explained. –Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News