President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed a bill that sought fiscal autonomy for the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, saying the proposal needs to be re-assessed in light of PUP’s current performance ranking among other state universities and colleges (SUCs).

“While I recognize the noble objective of the measure to promote, foster, nurture, and protect the right of all citizens to accessible quality education, I have serious reservations on the suitability of the means chosen to attain this end, namely, granting PUP the status of a national polytechnic university, with all the benefits and privileges such status entails,” the President stated in vetoing Senate Bill 2124 and House Bill 9023, or the act amending the charter of PUP.

The bill that sought to grant national polytechnic university status to PUP would have meant an additional P3 billion for the state school’s annual budget and a P50-million increment for the first three years.

The President said PUP, despite its stature in the education sector, is just one of many state universities and colleges SUCs in the country.

“The comparative performance of its satellite campuses and extension programs needs to be similarly evaluated before granting the PUP system as a whole such privileged status,” the President reasoned.

The proposed provision on appropriations would also have a significant fiscal impact on the government which may be avoided only if the PUP budget would continue to be subject to the need for prioritization and the usual budgetary and monitoring processes, the President wrote.