Govt urged to spend more for state colleges in provinces

The government should provide more financial support for state colleges in the provinces to enable more Filipinos living outside big cities to be able to have tertiary education, a lawmaker said Thursday. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, said that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) should provide greater assistance to these colleges since they have few or no assets at all. "If for the weaker or poorer members of society, we provide for affirmative action in the form of subsidies or livelihood assistance, then the principle should also hold for the poorer schools," Angara said during the pre-plenary briefing on the proposed 2012 CHED budget. The lawmaker added that the government should not "abandon" these schools by decreasing their budget allocations. "Let’s assist them until they [the state colleges] can stand on their own two feet. Let us not abandon them in their growing years," Angara said. Angara made this statement a week after a London-based company which specializes in education, Quacquarelli Symonds, downgraded the rankings of four Philippine universities in their list of top tertiary educational institutions. The Department of Budget and Management proposed a P25.8-billion budget for 110 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country for 2012, lower than P200-million compared to the budget allocation for this year. Unity statement Angara and 12 other lawmakers signed on Wednesday a unity statement calling on their colleagues in Congress to restore the P200-million cut in the proposed budget for SUCs. The House members signed the unity statement after meeting with presidents of SUCs, CHED officials and various youth groups. Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said Congress should re-channel to SUCs some of the allocations for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, which the government plans to increase by P16 billion next year. "If the executive refuses to recognize the importance of substantially increasing the budget of our public higher education institutions, then Congress should make a clear stand in support for our SUCs," Palatino said in a statement issued Thursday. He added that youth groups have already set nationwide protests next week to demand for an increase in the budget for education next year. Other lawmakers who signed the unity statement were: Bayan Muna party-list Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares, Gabriela Women’s party-list Reps. Emerenciana de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio. Also among those who also signed the statement were: San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito, Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Nueva Ecija Rep. Josefina Joson. Last week, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III also joined the call for increased budget allocations for SUCs. — RSJ, GMA News