DBM slashes UP budget by ₱3 billion for 2027

Justine Jay Tabo

The University of the Philippines (UP) System faces a sweeping ₱2.95-billion reduction in its funding for fiscal year 2027 under the newly submitted National Expenditure Program (NEP). 

Out of the ₱53.51 billion proposed by the UP Board of Regents in March, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved almost half of the budget or only ₱26.53 billion.

Among the hardest-hit sectors is the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the country’s main referral hospital, which is slated to undergo an ₱805.46-million reduction.

UP’s research initiatives will endure a loss of ₱930.04 million, while the number of locally funded capital projects will plunge from 26 down to just five, effectively freezing plans to expand campus facilities and academic spaces.

These spending cuts come even as the overall national budget grows, with the executive branch submitting a proposed ₱7.2-trillion spending package for 2027, an increase from the ₱6.7 trillion enacted previously. 

Official records from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) show a repeating pattern of reduced higher education funding, as the agency similarly rejected the UP Board of Regents’ ₱46.8-billion budget proposal in the previous fiscal year.

The proposal is not yet final and will now move to Congress.