Both chambers of Congress have expressed support for allocating an additional P12.3 billion to the country’s 113 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

The funding is intended to fully cover the cost of implementing the Free Higher Education Act.

Senate Higher Education Committee chair Loren Legarda expressed her support and organized a meeting with Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairperson Shirley Agrupis and SUC heads to discuss the next steps.

Meantime, Finance Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian confirmed the chamber will support the budget increase for SUCs.

Legarda and Gatchalian backed the SUCs’ appeal to increase their budget, which is expected to be approved to ensure more Filipino students have access to free college education.

Also, the commitment was confirmed Friday during a pre-plenary budget hearing led by Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste.

SUCs used the hearing to urge the House of Representatives to fund the free college education mandate in the upcoming budget.

House Committee on Appropriations Chair Mika Suansing confirmed that the P12.31 billion funding deficit for SUCs will be fully addressed in the 2026 budget.

This amount will be drawn from two sources — P7.82 billion from the Higher Education Development Fund of CHEd and an additional P4.49 billion to be approved by Congress.

The Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges estimates that the current funding shortfall for SUCs through 2025 is P12.3 billion.