Senate seeks bigger 2026 budget for tertiary education subsidy

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson pushed for a major realignment in the proposed 2026 national budget to strengthen the country’s main scholarship program and curb what he warned could be a return to politically driven educational aid.

During the Senate’s period of amendments, Lacson proposed deleting funds allocated to the “resurrected” Tulong Dunong Program under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and transferring P2.727 billion of its budget to the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES).

Lacson stressed that Tulong Dunong should no longer exist as a standalone initiative following the passage of Republic Act 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017, which subsumed the program into the TES. 

Despite this, he noted, the program reappeared in recent budget cycles.

“Though not recommended by the National Expenditure Program, Tulong Dunong is now included in the General Appropriations Bill,” he said, warning that reviving the program risks resurrecting past abuses. 

Lacson had earlier criticized Tulong Dunong for being arbitrarily distributed by lawmakers, unlike the TES, which is administered directly by CHED.

Citing CHED data, Lacson said the TES faces a P34.6-billion funding gap, leaving 2.312 million students unable to access scholarship support.

“This enormous funding gap is thus is a strong case against creating a separate program like Tulong Dunong, when the primary need is not even fully funded,” he emphasized.

He also pointed out that while the National Expenditure Program allotted zero funding for Tulong Dunong, the House of Representatives inserted P2.727 billion for the program in its version of the budget bill.

Beyond the TES, Lacson also proposed increases in the budgets of other education and governance institutions. These include a P30 million grant for the University of the Philippines–National College of Public Administration and Governance’s Governance Reform, Innovation and Transformation Collaboratory (GRIT Labs), as well as the P28.5 million for the Development Academy of the Philippines Graduate School of Public and Development Management. 

Lacson said the added funds would help strengthen programs that support public sector innovation, governance reforms, and advanced training for future leaders.