President Bongbong Marcos defended his decision to veto ₱43.245 billion in personnel funding for state universities and colleges, stressing that unprogrammed appropriations are not meant to function as discretionary funds and that employee benefits are already covered under the regular budget.
The vetoed amount was part of the unprogrammed or standby funds in the ₱6.79 trillion 2026 national budget, which Marcos signed earlier this week. The cut included ₱10.77 billion intended for salary upgrades and ₱32.47 billion for retirement and terminal leave benefits.
Unprogrammed appropriations may only be released if government revenues exceed targets.
Marcos said such funds “are not blank checks” and warned against their use as “a backdoor for discretionary spending,” arguing that allowing personnel benefits to rely on uncertain revenue collections would weaken fiscal discipline.
The decision prompted concerns from the Commission on Higher Education, which warned that state universities and colleges may be forced to limit student admissions because of uncertainty over hiring additional staff. CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis said enrollment growth could be constrained if the hiring of teaching and non-teaching personnel remains unclear.
“The effect of this is that we may have limitations in increasing our number of enrollees. So, if the hiring of teaching and non-teaching staff is not clarified now, we can only admit or increase enrollment to a certain extent,” Agrupis said.
Criticism also came from ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio, who said the veto affects more than 259,000 job order and contract workers across government, including over 41,000 personnel in state universities and colleges. He warned that the cut would prevent many from being regularized and could delay terminal leave benefits for retiring workers.
CHED acknowledged the potential impact but said existing plantilla positions remain funded. Agrupis said the veto does not automatically eliminate current contract positions and that agencies may still justify additional hiring if workloads cannot be addressed by existing staff. She added that non-teaching personnel would feel the brunt of the effects more than faculty.
CHED is also awaiting approval of Revised Organization and Staffing Standards II, which would allow the conversion of certain administrative contract positions into permanent government posts.
Budget watchdog groups earlier urged Marcos to veto portions of the national budget they described as hard, soft, and “shadow pork,” arguing that unprogrammed appropriations weaken transparency because the conditions for their release are not fully disclosed. Marcos’ veto aligned with those concerns, reinforcing his position that spending must remain within clearly programmed and accountable limits.
