State universities asked to prepare ‘wish lists’ after budget cuts
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—The country’s state colleges and universities (SUCs) have been asked to provide “wish lists” following cuts in their proposed P1.089-billion allocation for 2026, the president of Benguet’s largest institution said.
Aside from nearly P25 million in reduced capital outlay, the expected appropriations for building programs—including a much-anticipated medical school facility—were not included in next year’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) or in the draft General Appropriations Act for 2026, said Dr. Kenneth Laruan, president of Benguet State University (BSU).
BSU is among six Cordillera universities whose annual subsidies and other forms of government financing were reduced, according to the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP).
During the Sept. 21 nationwide protests against corruption, NUSP and other student organizations at the Baguio leg of the rallies denounced the wide cuts in education amid ongoing inquiries into padded projects from which some government engineers and lawmakers allegedly earned huge kickbacks.
BSU and other SUCs were advised to submit new budgetary requests to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Laruan said at a Sept. 19 briefing held on the La Trinidad campus.
Linked to flood control
Laruan said the DBM order may be linked to the P252.53 billion intended for government flood control projects in 2026, which was removed from the Department of Public Works and Highways.
An Independent Commission for Infrastructure is currently probing previous flood control projects allegedly “inserted” during the congressional budget process.
“We hope there will be insertions (in the 2026 GAA),” Laruan said, half in jest, referring to financing needed for the completion of the College of Medicine building, which is in its second phase of construction, as well as the College of Nursing building and the Arts and Humanities building. Combined, these infrastructure programs would require P100 million, he said.
Last week, NUSP raised the alarm over a P1.3-billion cut in the 2026 budgets of state universities in Mountain Province, Abra, Apayao, and Kalinga. BSU faced a 46-percent cut in capital outlay despite a “net increase overall” in its 2026 NEP budget, the student organization said, while the University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio could also face reductions if the UP system’s budget ends up with a P21-billion deficit.
