SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed deep disappointment over the veto of the proposed Revised Charter of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), lamenting the loss of what could have been a landmark step toward academic and fiscal autonomy for the country’s largest state university.

Zubiri revealed that the measure—which sought to elevate PUP as the National Polytechnic University—has been vetoed once again by Malacañang. This is the second time such a bill has been rejected, following an earlier veto during the 17th Congress.

“I am disheartened to learn that our measure, the Revised Charter of PUP, has been vetoed by Malacañang,” Zubiri said.

The proposed bill would have granted PUP full academic and fiscal autonomy, enabling it to enhance educational quality, expand programs, and improve access to higher education, especially for marginalized youth.

“We’ve long fought to institutionalize PUP as our National Polytechnic University, which would have allowed them to provide a higher standard of tertiary education,” he added.

Zubiri explained that the latest version of the bill had been carefully revised to address concerns raised during the previous veto. However, these changes still failed to secure the President’s approval.

“This bill had already been vetoed once before. This time, we made sure to address and remove the objectionable provisions—but apparently, that wasn’t enough,” Zubiri said.

“I only wish the objections to the new measure could have been resolved between us and the Commission on Higher Education before this unfortunate veto.”

The senator stressed that granting PUP National University status would have democratized higher education by allowing more students access to affordable, high-quality tertiary education.

“As it stands, PUP is already a breeding ground for excellent and competitive young minds. But this bill could have helped them excel even more,” Zubiri said.