President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has vetoed the bill that sought to amend the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) charter to declare it a National Polytechnic University, as announced by Malacañang on Friday.
“Ang sinasabi pong bill ay na-veto ng Pangulo (The bill in question was vetoed by the President),” said Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during a press briefing when asked about the status of the proposed measure.
The veto was attributed to the bill’s non-compliance with the assessment requirements for PUP. Despite this, Marcos remains hopeful that PUP will eventually achieve recognition as a national polytechnic university.
“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 re-assessment ng nasabing paaralan (There was a directive back in 2016 that there should be an assessment, and now it appears that there was no compliance with the re-assessment of the said school),” Castro explained.
She added, “Umaasa siya (Marcos) na ang PUP po ay magkakaroon din po ng national university status kapag po na-comply nila lahat ng mga compliance (He hopes that PUP would also get a national university status when they comply with all compliance).”
Founded in 1904, PUP has over 20 campuses serving thousands of students, with its main campus located in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Before the implementation of the free tertiary education law, PUP was known for its low tuition fees, charging about PHP12 per unit.
The proposed amendments aimed to provide greater institutional and fiscal autonomy to better serve PUP’s growing student population, which reached 93,000 enrollees this year. Key provisions included strengthening PUP’s governance, expanding degree offerings, and establishing the PUP Center for Artificial Intelligence, Computational Thinking, and Key Emerging Technologies, positioning PUP at the forefront of technological innovation and making advanced education more accessible to Filipinos.