After being accused of wasting taxpayers’ money on the botched People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution, House Speaker Martin Romualdez drew support and praises for his “prudent allocation of government resources.”

The accolades uncharacteristically came from 113 state universities and colleges, or SUCs, in a letter they sent to the office of Romualdez, thanking him for the additional funding given them following a previous P6-billion budget cut.

In the letter, Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges president Dr. Tirso Ronquillo said that the P128.2 billion allocation will empower them to effectively perform their core mandates.

Ronquillo thanked Romualdez for helping SUCs obtain the additional funding support. “We stand united with the Honorable Speaker in his unwavering commitment to prudent allocation of government resources,” he said.

“Your dedication and efforts in enlisting the support of your esteemed fellow congressmen have been instrumental in ensuring that our students have the necessary assistance to succeed in college under the government’s free higher education program,” Ronquillo added.

SUCs were initially given a P100.88 billion budget for 2024, way less than the P331.3 billion the institutions sought. The amount would have been P6,155,499 of the SUCs 2023 budget of P107.037 billion.

The SUCs sought the House’s support to restore and further augment their funding during budget deliberations in October last year.

by Edjen Oliquino, reprinted with permission from the PDT