By Merlina Hernando-Malipot Grantees of a research grant funded by the government called on the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) to issue further clarification on the delayed release of their budget which allegedly resulted in the halted implementation of projects and non-provision of salary for project-based researchers. A grantee of the research project, who requested anonymity, reached out to the Manila Bulletin to air concerns on the delayed release of the budget lodged under the CHED DARE TO Research Grant (Discovery-Applied Research and Extension for Trans/Inter-disciplinary Opportunity). As described by CHED in its website, the DARE TO Research Grant is a “competitive enabler seed grant” amounting to a maximum of P15 million for two years per project. “It aims to stimulate strong collaborative research and innovation ventures and sustainable partnerships for extension activities during the K to 12 transition,” CHED said. “These research grants give faculty and staff who were deloaded from teaching or work during the K to 12 Transition a chance to participate and contribute in the work of research,” it added. In an earlier statement, CHED also noted that it envisioned the DARE TO Grant to be a “way to give faculty an opportunity to engage in their research duties, and to begin steps towards long-lasting research partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs).” No funds for research, no salaries Without salary for seven months now, the grantee – who is a project-based researcher in a state university in Region 3 – said that the despite the approval of the 2019 budget, the funds for the second year implementation of their project have not been released by CHED. “Supposedly, our remaining budget for the second year to continue the project should have been released in June 2018,” the grantee said in a mix of English and Filipino. “In our end, we submitted all the needed documents for them to release the budget,” he added. The grantee noted that his University already “utilized the remaining budget from the first year and starting from September 2018” – thus, their salaries remained unpaid since then. Despite repeated follow up from the CHED – through its Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) – the grantee alleged that the issue remains unaddressed. “We already follow up this from CHED but we we’re passed from one to another, we got nothing in the end,” the grantee lamented. “Last January 2019, we asked for update and they said that it will be released by March when the national budget for 2019 is approved since they don’t have budget anymore,” he said. Given this, the researcher feels quite frustrated since “our project is set to end in June and we still don’t know when the budget for the second year will be released.” The grantee noted that this might also be a problem for other universities which were given grants under the CHED DARE TO project. “We’re waiting for the rerelease of the remaining budget so since June 2018 to April 2019, our projects have stopped because we ran out of supplies such as the necessary chemicals,” he shared. In the grantee’s university, he noted that the project-based researchers have not been receiving salaries from September 2018 to April 2019. Their salary rate is around P23,000. Meanwhile, the source also shared that Professors in Region 8 said that some undergraduate students could not push through with the conduct of their thesis under the CHED DARE TO program due to lack of funds. “They were forced to do different thesis instead of being part of the project,” he said. In 2017, CHED data showed that there were around 76 research proposals funded by the Commission through the DARE TO Research Grants program. Of the 76 approved proposals, 41 came from Luzon, 10 from Visayas, and 25 from Mindanao. A total of 229 proposals received from different regions across the Philippines underwent multiple and rigorous rounds of screening. In an earlier statement, CHED explained that the DARE TO Grants program was part of CHED’s initiatives to assist faculty and staff who were adversely affected by the ongoing K to 12 transition. “At the same time, we are investing strategically in bold, innovative trans-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary research that can solve current socio-economic challenges and produce sustainable solutions,” CHED added. The awarded research proposals were supposed to be developed around a combination of multiple subject areas and fields of inquiry. “In addition, project teams will also be composed of faculty who represent at least two different HEIs for better collaboration between research institutions,” CHED said. The awarded initiatives focuses on health systems, environment, terrestrial and marine economy, climate change and energy, economy, biodiversity and conservation, smart analytics and engineering innovations, and education for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Music (STEAM). The Manila Bulletin sought clarification from CHED Chairman Dr. Prospero De Vera III but he has yet to respond or issue a statement as of press time.