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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Marcos admin pays ₱12.3 billion to resolve years of free college tuition debts

Marcos admin pays ₱12.3 billion to resolve years of free college tuition debts

Published Jul 13, 2026 12:00 am  |  Updated Jul 13, 2026 05:33 am

At A Glance

  • To settle the obligations the government owes the state universities and colleges (SUCs), the Marcos administration will use a combined ₱12.3 billion in accumulated surpluses from the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) and a fresh allocation from the 2026 national budget.
The Marcos administration will deploy ₱12.3 billion using surpluses and fresh budget allocations to settle multi-year financial arrears owed to state universities and colleges, according to a government joint administrative order.
The national government plans to tap ₱7.8 billion in accumulated, unused balances from the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) to cover a portion of the obligations spanning academic years 2022 to 2025.
The remaining ₱4.5 billion shortfall will be financed through the fiscal year 2026 General Appropriations Act, according to Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2026-01, published by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last Friday.
The funding mechanism, signed by DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon and Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Shirley C. Agrupis, formalizes the state’s strategy to liquidate the backlog.
Under the guidelines, the supplementary injection from the national budget will pair with historical HEDF surpluses to fully eliminate the deficiencies.
Additionally, the JMC addressed long-standing administrative hurdles to prevent future backlogs.
It noted that the objective of the new guidelines is to “establish a uniform process for SUCs in billing their Free Higher Education (FHE) deficiencies and to ensure the timely and transparent release of allocated funds.”
This measure seeks to ensure the equitable implementation of free higher education while maximizing the use of government resources.
Despite already being earmarked, the release of these funds remains conditional upon rigorous compliance.
SUCs are required to submit extensive documentation, including notarized billing statements and certificates of registration. “Only SUCs with complete submission of the required documentary requirements shall be included in the Special Budget Request (SBR),” the issuance read.
These submissions will undergo final validation by CHED and the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) Board to ensure that all payments are based on actual enrollees and approved fees.

Related Tags

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) CHED national budget Joint Memorandum Circular Kim Robert C. De Leon
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