UTILIZE INCOME TO SUPPORT OPERATIONS, SUCs TOLD

State universities and colleges (SUCs) should fully utilize their incomes to finance their operations and not rely solely on government subsidies alone, Senator Franklin Drilon yesterday said.

Drilon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said state educational institutions should use internally-generated revenues from tuition and rental of properties of SUCs, among other sources, to augment their budgets.

"There are a lot of public funds which are in the banks of the SUCs. You'd be surprised that the amount of the money that is in the coffers of SUCs which are either idle or awaiting expenditures is substantial," said Drilon.

By law, SUCs are authorized to retain and use their incomes as Congress has delegated to SUCs the power to appropriate public funds.

He required SUCs to submit a "detailed report" on how much income they have been earning in the past years and their sources of income.

"We do not intend to remove this prerogative from them (SUCs) but we will monitor how they will utilize not only the subsidy from the budget but also the public fund in the form of tuition and other sources by virtue of the power we have granted to them," Drilon added.

"We want to make sure that these are efficiently spent and the public and the students will be informed as to how much is the support from the national government," said Drilon.

Total funding for SUCs under the proposed 2012 budget is placed at P26.1 billion, or a 10.1% increase compared to this year's allocation of P23.7 billion.

Next year's budget for SUCs included automatic appropriations which are itemized per SUC, P2 billion for unfilled positions under the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund, and an additional P500 million under the Commission on Higher Education for SUC development.