In the throes of strong calls against SUC budget cuts and insufficient funds for public higher education, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday said that there is a 10.1% increase in the SUC budget for 2012 – a claim which Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino today said is “deceiving.”

“It is deceiving for the DBM to claim that there is an SUC budget increase despite clear budget cuts to various items and the insufficiency of the entire budget for the education sector. The DBM obviously evades the issue of budget cuts and insufficiency. It is agitating for our SUCs to hear misleading claims from the DBM. It will certainly set ablaze the strong unity of various sectors to fight for a sufficient SUC budget increase,” Palatino said.

Budget Cuts

Based on the 2012 National Expenditures Program (NEP), the proposal currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives and will later on be subjected to the Senate and the President to be become a law, a total of 45 SUCs will suffer a P250.9 million cut to their Maintenance and other Operating Expenses (MOOE). In addition, the budget for Personal Services (PS) of 58 SUCs is slashed by P403.3 million despite the supposed automatic increase in PS for each year, due to the Salary Standardization Law.

Palatino further pointed out that all 112 SUCs are given zero budget allocation for their Capital Outlay (CO), the budget item for the procurement of equipment and construction of buildings. Should the budget proposal be approved, SUCs will be receiving zero CO budget for the second straight year under the watch of President Aquino.

“The 2012 NEP clearly contains these devastating cuts to crucial items in the SUC budget. A person or an agency cannot deny these cuts without sounding like a bad liar,” Palatino said.

Standby Fund

Palatino also clarified that the amount of P2.5 billion the DBM has claimed to be apportioned to the SUCs is just a “standby fund” and is not immediately accessible to the SUCs.

“This P2.5 billion standby fund was taken away from the SUCs and is now subject to the approval of the President. Essentially, our SUCs now have to beg to the DBM and the President for them to be able to use these standby fund, which is even insufficient to address the needs of our public higher education. The DBM has nothing to brag about this standby fund. It should give back to our SUCs immediate access and control of these funds” Palatino said.

For 2012, SUCs have proposed a total budget of P45 billion. The DBM only gave an immediately accessible budget of P21.8 billion for SUCs, based on the 2012 NEP. .

Reduction policy

Palatino also said that the DBM explicitly states in its education budget policy that the funds for SUCs will be gradually reduced, following the recommendation of the World Bank (WB).

“The issue of budget cuts and insufficient funding is actually part of an existing education budget policy espoused by the DBM. What the Aquino government wants is for our SUCs to abandon their public nature and become privatized institutions. This means less funding from the government and added burden to our students and their families, “ Palatino said.

Broad Unity

Last Wednesday, House Representatives have expressed a stand against SUC budget cuts and have called for a sufficient increase in SUC funds. Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel IIII and Manila Auxillary Bishop Broderick Pabillo have also voiced support for the campaign.

The broad alliance of lawmakers, youth groups, SUC officials, and members of concerned sectors is gearing up for a series of nationwide actions on September 19-23.

“DBM should properly address the just demands of our SUCs instead of spreading deceitful claims. These budget cuts and insufficient funds are totally inadmissible. It is not only the welfare of our SUCs that is at stake here but also the future of our youth and our nation,” Palatino said. ###