The truth about the vetoed PUP bill

The bill converting the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) into the National Polytechnic University of the Philippines (NPUP) was vetoed by President Bongbong Marcos on July 11, 2025, citing the university’s failure to comply with CHED requirements.

PCO’s Claire Castro said, “Ang sinasabi pong bill ay na-veto ng Pangulo dahil nagkaroon po ng direktiba noon pa pong 2016 na dapat magkaroon ng assessment. At sa ngayon po, lumalabas na hindi po nagkaroon ng compliance para sa assessment ng nasabing paaralan.” (The President vetoed the bill because there was a directive in 2016 to do an assessment and it appears that there was no compliance with the assessment of the said university.)

The veto stirred a tempest among students, faculty and employees of PUP.

During the recent public hearing on the CHED budget, a grandstanding freshman congressman accused me of orchestrating the presidential veto. His lack of knowledge about the House and Senate committees on higher and technical education’s deliberations, as well as the extensive debates in the plenary over the past five years, is both shocking and irresponsible.

If he read the records of the House and Senate committee hearings, which are available in the congressional archives, he would find that I supported the conversion bill, provided that the issues raised in the past veto had been sufficiently addressed.

If he had only done his homework, he would have realized that I left the Commission on May 29, 2025, while the presidential veto was made on July 11, 2025.

On record, CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis wrote PBBM on June 16, 2025, requesting that the President veto the NPUP bill. 

Let me revisit and clarify the issues related to the proposed NPUP bill.

During the Duterte administration, the PNUP conversion bill was vetoed after CHED raised several concerns during the public hearings.

On whether PUP is a polytechnic university

CHED stated that PUP is not a polytechnic university. Instead, it is a comprehensive university offering degree programs in law, teacher education, mass media and tourism management, among others.

There are many excellent polytechnic universities around the world, such as Singapore Polytechnic, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. I proposed that PUP should focus on technology programs to become a true polytechnic university.

The use of the label ‘National University’

In other countries, the term “national university” usually refers to regional and internationally recognized research universities. For example, in Malaysia, its five national universities – UKM, USM, UM, UPM, UTM – are all globally ranked institutions. All of these universities rank higher than the University of the Philippines in global rankings. UP is our National University under RA 9500 and is the leading higher education institution in the country.

I stated during the public hearings that PUP is not ranked internationally and is a SUC Level II in CHED’s 2016 SUC leveling exercise. It has strong academic programs on its main campus, but many degree programs at its external campuses lack a Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC).  

I also stated that if Congress grants the “National University” label to PUP, there will be a deluge of bills converting other SUCs into national universities, as they specialize in specific fields and are internationally ranked.

What has changed since then?

PUP has steadily improved its teaching, research and extension programs under Dr. Manuel Muhi’s leadership. It has worked hard to obtain COPCs for its programs, and its graduates consistently perform well in licensure exams.

Based on the JobStreet.com Fresh Graduate Survey of 550 companies, PUP remains the top school preferred by most employers hiring fresh graduates, outranking UST, Ateneo and UP.

PUP is now ranked in the QS World University Rankings for Asia 2025, the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) 2025 and the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025. PUP also holds a QS 3-Star Rating and is included in the QS Asia University Rankings.

During the Senate hearings, I proposed that the bill include a provision authorizing CHED to establish a system that grants institutional autonomy to PUP, allowing its main campus with its strong programs to be fully autonomous. In contrast, its external campuses will continue to be regulated and assisted by CHED until all degree programs receive their COPC.

These are the reasons why I supported the proposed NPUP bill, provided that the CHED amendments were included in the final draft.

The turn around

I was just as surprised as everyone else when I heard on the news that PBBM has vetoed the NPUP bill.

Why should PUP be penalized for remaining a Level II SUC if CHED was unable to implement its SUC Leveling Exercise in 2025?

And how can a veto be justified based on “the failure to get a 100 percent COPC for all programs” when the September 2025 deadline for 100 percent COPC under the Joint CHED-PRC Circular Number 1 has passed, and hundreds of non-compliant degree programs remain open?

Clearly, PUP was given a bad deal because of the veto.   

The documents and records from the public hearings speak for themselves, providing accurate and factual information on the matter.

Allow the truth to come out.

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