PHP11.6-billion cut made in the budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for 2020 would affect hundreds of thousands of college students availing of its scholarship programs.

– For 2020, CHED was allocated PHP40.784 billion, which is nearly 23 percent lower than its budget of PHP52.43 billion this year.

– The bulk of the CHED budget, or about 80 percent, is for the implementation of the program mandates of Republic Act 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE).

– For 2019, the UAQTE budget is PHP42.5 billion. The biggest component of this is the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), which has an allocation of PHP25.28 billion for this year to fund 708,993 beneficiaries in five major assistance programs.

– The proposed UAQTE budget for 2020 is PHP35.36 billion, a deep PHP7.12 billion cut.

– On top of this deduction, is the obliteration of PHP2.6 billion for the Tulong Dunong Program.

Without the restoration of the budget cut, Recto said the continued schooling of 175,260 students under the Student Financial Assistance Program, 1,932 medical scholars, and between 115,352 to 199,920 students who benefit from the TES would be in peril.