UNIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) President Angelo Jimenez said he will prioritize completion of infrastructure projects and the expansion of the institution's research capacity for fiscal year (FY) 2027.
“We are on our way to resolving many of these difficult infrastructure issues. Number two, we are capacitating our research capacity,” he told The Manila Times on Friday.
The proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) allocates P26.53 billion for the UP System.
The budget allocation received online criticism, pointing out that under the proposed NEP, the university will get a P2.9-billion budget cut compared to last year’s funding.
Jimenez noted that comparing the initial executive allocation in the NEP directly with final congressional appropriations from FY 2025 is similar to comparing "apples and oranges."
“We have actually increased in terms of last year. What we are saying is the National Expenditure Plan, compared to the actual GAA that we got last year, there was a reduction, but we cannot compare NEP and GAA,” he said.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro previously said that the reason for the lower budget allocation was due to the accomplished infrastructure projects in the UP system that no longer need additional funding.
Jimenez added that UP aims to be a research and graduate school.
“The University of the Philippines is shifting its identity to be a clear research and graduate school, an innovation university, so this is a massive historical shift, primarily just producing graduates,” he said.
“Now, we are actually talking about focusing on the discovery of new knowledge and innovation of this knowledge so that it can actually solve problems of the Filipino people,” he added.
He noted that the research they aim to produce solves social problems relevant to the Filipino people.
"Our research is this: ask us, what social problem does your research solve? So, you don't produce products or technology and say, 'Who is interested?' When you produce, it's only because there is already interest. So, that is what we call client discovery,” he added.
This, he said, aligns with the university’s public service vision, noting that its motto has since changed from “honor and excellence” to “honor and excellence in the service of the nation” to emphasize its mission of public service. ALLEN LIMOS
