SUCs get zero budget for 2nd straight year

WHILE the 2012 allocation for the Department of Education was increased by P31.5 billion, the proposed P1.816-trillion budget for the year earmarked zero budget for the capital outlay of state universities and colleges (SUCs), a lawmaker said on Friday.

Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan Party-list noted that the zero allocation for the capital outlay of the SUCs for the second straight year showed that the increase in the budget of the Education department was deceiving.

Palatino cited that aside from the zero capital outlay, the proposed P23.6 billion budget for SUCs in the 2012 General Appopriations Act also reduced by P250.9 million the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of 45 SUCs and by P403.3 million the Personal Services of 58 SUCs.

The SUCs in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region or NCR, got the lion’s share of the SUC budget with P7.8 billion, followed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (P1.9 billion), Western Visayas (P1.6 billion), Central Luzon (P1.5 billion) and Eastern Visayas (P1.4 billion).

The MOOE of 12 major NCR-based hospitals, among them Philippine General Hospital, Philippine Heart Center and National Kidney Institute, was slashed by P70.8 million.

That of hospitals outside Metro Manila was slashed by P363.7 million.

“The Aquino government has made detrimental budget cuts to social services like education and health. It should not focus on CCTs (conditional cash transfers) or PPP (public-private partnership) and should instead fortify our social services,” Palatino pointed out.

While the SUC budget suffered cuts, the Aquino administration raised appropriation for the CCTs to P39.4 billion—an 86-percent or P18.3-billion hike from 2011’s P21 billion.

In addition, the President’s proposed 2012 budget spiked the PPP allocation to P22.1 billion, or P7 billion higher than the 2011 PPP budget. –Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter, Manila Times