Photo Release

Proposed 2022 SUCS, CHED budgets: Sen. Pia Cayetano presides over a hybrid hearing of Finance Subcommittee D Thursday, October 21, 2021, on the proposed 2022 budgets of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and the Commission on Higher Education. During presentation, the Department of Budget and Management approved a much lower budget for SUCs as compared to this year’s budget. For SUCs, the proposed 2022 budget amounting to P71.19 billion is lower than this year’s P79.1 billion. While CHED’s 2022 budget of P52.6 billion is higher than its current budget, many of its programs have reduced budgets or none at all. “We are distraught that at a time like this, we are not supporting our higher education system. We had hoped that this will be the best time to invest in higher education so that when the COVID is over, which we hope, there will be a new normal that we can go back, a normal (which is) not exactly the same... this kind of numbers, it's very disappointing,” Cayetano said. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)