ACT Teachers Partylist Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio raised concern over a ₱6-billion shortfall in free higher education subsidies owed to state universities and colleges (SUCs), urging the government to immediately settle the accumulated debt.

During the budget briefing of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Tinio revealed that SUC administrators have repeatedly flagged the issue.

“We spoke with a large group of SUC administrators, and they have consistently raised the problem of mounting deficiencies in the free higher education subsidy,” Tinio said.

Citing the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) as an example, Tinio underscored the scale of the problem.

“From school year 2022–2023 up to 2024–2025, the free higher education deficiency for PUP alone has already reached ₱1.18 billion,” he stressed, adding that this reflects the burden of just one institution.

CHED Chairperson Dr. Shirley Agrupis confirmed the shortfall, noting that the total deficiency from 2020 to 2023–2024 has reached ₱6 billion.

Tinio criticized what he described as the government’s inadequate response, pointing out that CHED allocated only ₱1 billion from the Higher Education Development Fund to partly cover the ₱2.128-billion deficit for 2024 alone.

He also questioned why SUCs are being asked to shoulder part of the shortfall through income-generating projects when the Free Higher Education program is supposed to be fully funded by the government.

“I am formally moving that the entire ₱6 billion be included in the budget augmentation to finally settle this debt,” Tinio declared, suggesting that funds be reallocated from the sizable proposed appropriations for flood control projects in the 2026 national budget.

“Instead of pouring billions into flood control projects often plagued with corruption, we must invest in education, health, and housing,” he concluded.