THE UST Faculty Union (USTFU) on Saturday dialed down its claim that UST was sitting on “billions” and can thus afford to shoulder P26 million to promote some faculty members.
After a check by the Varsitarian on its claims, USTFU shifted to a different figure, claiming UST was keeping P2 billion in “investments” in banks.
The labor union originally argued that UST possessed about P12 billion in “net assets.”
“The University’s financial statements, as publicly available, clearly indicate substantial resources, including investments, cash equivalents, and receivables,” USTFU said in a statement on March 29.
“These resources, which have accumulated over time through academic operations and prudent financial management, demonstrate UST’s financial stability and capacity to fairly compensate its faculty,” it added.
UST and unionized faculty are locked in an industrial dispute, after the USTFU declared a deadlock in talks for a new salary and benefits deal for 2021-2026 on March 14 and filed a notice of strike on March 25.
The deadlock is over two key issues — funding for the P26-million rank upgrade and salary restructuring and hospitalization benefits.
READ: EXPLAINER: Why UST faculty, admin are at odds over P26-million salary restructuring fund
In a March 10 assembly, USTFU President Emerito Gonzales claimed the union, which had commissioned two accountants to examine UST’s finances, found “tens of billions” of pesos in revenue that were “just sitting inside banks and investments.”
UST management clarified on March 26 that the P12 billion represented not earnings but unrestricted net assets, which are not entirely liquid as they include non-current assets such as buildings and property, equipment, software, operating systems, and supplies.
READ: UST nixes ‘misleading, inaccurate’ claims of P12 billion in ‘earnings’
USTFU, however, insisted in its March 29 statement that the University was sitting on “multiple layers of wealth” and demonstrated “remarkable financial strength” through extensive investments from 2016 to 2023.
An independent check by the Varsitarian of UST’s latest publicly available financial statements from Academic Year 2022-2023 found that the University had declared P13.19 billion in unrestricted net assets after deducting liabilities.
UST reported P21.34 billion in total assets.
Of this figure, P5.89 billion were current assets or those that may be converted into cash in the short term. A significant portion of total assets — P15.46 billion — were non-current, meaning they are not liquid.
UST had P2.68 billion in cash and cash equivalents and P2.25 billion in short-term investments.
RELATED: UST reports 6.2% growth in revenues in 2023 despite dip in tuition collections
Other current assets were receivables (P645.6 million), inventories (P139.08 million), and prepayments and other current assets (P167.14 million).
The majority of UST’s assets were in property and equipment, valued at P15.04 billion, while other non-liquid assets stood at P412.05 million.
USTFU said UST’s “decision to keep funds in long-term assets rather than addressing urgent faculty concerns is a matter of financial strategy – not an absolute limitation.”
“The Union’s request for P26 million for fair and separate promotion funding is modest and well within the University’s capacity.”
Government negotiators have begun working to break the impasse, after the National Conciliation and Mediation Board called the first conciliation conference between the two bargaining units on March 28.
If disagreements persist after government intervention, a strike may occur as early as May 2. Ella Mae A. Sison
