Students, teachers, and staff from the University of the Philippines (UP) System protested on September 25 to demand an increased budget for the university, concurrent with the budget hearing in Congress for State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) for 2026. The UP Office of the Student Regent (OSR) and student councils called for and led the coordinated protest actions across UP campuses.

The UP System proposed a ₱46.85 billion budget for 2026 but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Marcos regime approved only ₱25.82 billion, which they recorded in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) now under deliberation. In 2025, the university’s budget was slashed by ₱2.08 billion, far from UP’s proposed amount.

At UP Diliman, the UP Diliman University Student Council (USC) and campus organizations staged a protest at Quezon Hall. Students denounced the lack of funding that has resulted in insufficient space for students, delayed construction of buildings, and the absence of other essential campus services.

After the UP Diliman protest, the council and organizations joined youth groups in a demonstration before the House of Representatives in Batasan, Quezon City. They demanded on increased funding for all SUCs nationwide.

Kabataan Representative Atty. Renee Co joined the program. According to Kabataan, the Marcos regime’s claim of an increased education budget for next year is a blatant lie, since 26 SUCs will face a total of ₱6.4 billion in budget cuts for 2026.

Student councils and other organizations also held protests in other UP campuses. Protest actions took place in UP Manila, UP Cebu, and UP Mindanao. Meanwhile, UP Baguio USC hung streamers around the campus to demand a budget increase for the university.

At the House of Representatives hearing on September 25, legislators pushed for an additional ₱1 billion allocation for the UP System. The House Committee on Appropriations reallocated this from the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Makabayan Bloc party representatives’ persistent scrutiny compelled the allocation of funds for settling debts owed to SUCs in connection with the free tuition program. They repeatedly raised this issue during the initial budget hearings for the Commission on Higher Education, in preliminary hearings with SUC administrators, and during the plenary budget hearing.

Rep. Co said, from 2022 to 2025, funding provided to SUCs was no longer sufficient as mandated by law, which resulted in a “Free Higher Education (FHE) deficiency.” She explained that this shortage accumulated to ₱12.3 billion. This does not yet include the expected 2026 FHE deficiency of ₱3.3 billion, she added.

Exposure of the debt pushed legislators to allocate ₱12.3 billion to resolve SUCs’ concerns. Nevertheless, Kabataan declared continuing the struggle because budget cuts for SUCs still loom, the 2026 FHE deficiency persists, a ₱20 billion deficit for priority building projects remains, and SUCs face a total ₱163.8 billion funding gap from their original proposals.

Kabataan Party-list led the drafting of a unified statement by SUC administrators to push these demands forward. At the latest count, 40 administrators had signed the statement.

“Much more needs to be done to achieve the genuine free education that the youth deserve,” Rep. Co said. She praised the persistent protests and clamor of the youth and students to assert the right to education.