Fund for SUCs’ faculty promotion pushed

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sonny Angara has pushed for the allocation of P2.9 billion in the proposed P3.757 national budget for this year to fund the promotion of faculty members of state universities and colleges (SUCs) across the country.

“After making tuition in SUCs free, the government should now aim at improving the quality of public higher education in the country, and one way to do this is to provide advancement opportunities to SUC teachers,” he said.

Angara is the vice chairman of the Senate committee on finance tasked to sponsor the budget of the Commission on Higher Education and SUCs for 2019.

Such P2.9-billion funding aims to implement the National Budget Circular (NBC) 461, a system of evaluation and promotion for SUC faculty members, which was supposed to be given in full in 2017.

No budget has been allocated for NBC 461 Cycle 7 (2013-2016) because of the moratorium imposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Funding for SUC faculty promotion was again excluded in the proposed budget the DBM submitted to Congress for consideration.

About 35,000 faculty members stand to benefit from the funding of NBC 461.

Job promotion and the corresponding pay increase is the best way to reward outstanding performance, according to Angara. 

“Definitely, this would lead to an improvement in the quality of education in our public higher education,” he said.

The committee, together with the support of other senators, is likewise responsible for this year’s P10-million across-the-board increase in the capital outlay of 112 SUCs in the country to help them upgrade their infrastructure and equipment.