AFTER  years of appeals from state universities and colleges (SUCs) to address a persistent budget deficit for the Free Higher Education Act, the House of Representatives and the Senate have committed to allocate an additional ₱12.3 billion for 113 SUCs under the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste, vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, led the pre-plenary budget hearing for SUCs where officials urged lawmakers to fully fund the law. Leviste also sponsored the proposed SUC budget during the plenary session.

House Appropriations Committee chair Mika Suansing confirmed that the ₱12.31-billion budget gap will be covered in the 2026 spending plan. Of this, ₱7.82 billion will come from the Commission on Higher Education’s Higher Education Development Fund, while ₱4.49 billion will be sourced directly from Congress.

In the Senate, Finance Committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian assured support for the higher allocation to sustain the law’s implementation. Senate Higher Education Committee chair Loren Legarda also backed the measure and met with SUC presidents and CHED Chair Shirley Agrupis to discuss the proposal before Senate deliberations.

According to Dr. Tirso Ronquillo, president of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, SUCs face a ₱12.3-billion funding shortfall until 2025 and will need an additional ₱3.5 billion in 2026 to meet the projected increase in student enrollment.

Despite the law benefiting millions of students, inadequate funding has limited SUC slots, leaving about 200,000 qualified students unable to enroll.

Gatchalian and Legarda said the proposed increase will be taken up in the Senate in the coming days and is expected to gain approval—expanding access to free higher education for more Filipino youth.