The Cebu Provincial Government will reduce its 2026 budget for a key tertiary student scholarship program to settle millions in unpaid grants from previous years. The move aims to clear a backlog that has affected scholars awaiting their allowances.
Budget Deduction to Address Payables
The approved P150 million allocation for the Cebu Province Grants Intended for Tertiary Students (CP-Gifts) in 2026 will be decreased by P6.5 million. This deduction will cover unsettled scholarship payments from the 2023–2024 school year, as confirmed by Provincial Assistant Administrator Aldwin Empaces on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
After the deduction, the working budget for the program this year will stand at P143.5 million. Empaces stated that the P6.5 million in payables is scheduled for release within January 2026, alongside other student incentives.
Root Cause: Budget and Beneficiary Mismatch
Empaces explained that the executive department identified a significant problem three months ago: a persistent disparity between the program's approved budget and the actual number of student beneficiaries. This mismatch forced the province to repeatedly augment, or supplement, the funding.
"The budget and number of beneficiaries did not match, so we kept having to augment it," Empaces said, highlighting the administrative challenge. This issue led to yearlong delays in the release of allowances for the 2024 and 2025 semesters, a concern raised by scholars in a December 2025 report.
New Rules and Systemic Reforms
To resolve the crisis, Governor Pamela Baricuatro's office had already augmented the CP-Gifts budget by P75 million on December 18, 2025. This injection was intended to settle delayed payments caused by a higher-than-anticipated number of qualified scholars.
To prevent a recurrence, Governor Baricuatro has ordered the creation of new Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the CP-Gifts program. These rules are designed to strengthen monitoring mechanisms and ensure the number of beneficiaries strictly aligns with the approved annual budget.
Empaces noted that the Governor's Office had to augment funds repeatedly in past years due to this mismatch, which resulted not only in payment delays but also in weak program monitoring. Additionally, the Provincial Government is transitioning to a cash-based disbursement system to enforce greater fiscal discipline.
Program Expansion and Historical Budget
The CP-Gifts program has seen substantial growth. In September 2025, it was amended to include:
- 2,500 scholarship slots for the Office of the Governor.
- 1,000 slots for the Office of the Vice Governor.
- An additional 100 slots for each Provincial Board member.
This expansion follows a P50 million budget in 2025, which proved insufficient, leading to the increased P150 million allocation for 2026 before the recent deduction for old payables.
