On the day the UP CMC Foundation publicly disclosed that PHP4.4 million in funds had allegedly been misappropriated, the UP College of Media and Communication issued its own statement demanding answers and calling for the release of records needed to independently verify what happened to the money.
The June 24 statement marks the College’s most comprehensive response yet to the controversy that has engulfed the foundation and generated weeks of debate among faculty members, alumni, and stakeholders.
While acknowledging the foundation’s assertion that an external audit uncovered PHP4.4 million in missing funds, the College stopped short of adopting that conclusion as its own.
Instead, UP CMC said its concerns arise from what it described as unreconciled differences between project fund balances reflected in unit records and balances reported or made available by the foundation.
“UP CMC also takes note of the Foundation’s statement that an external audit covering the period 2021-2025 found P4.4M in funds that the Foundation itself described as missing or misappropriated,” the statement said. “The College does not present this as its own independent finding.”
According to the College, concerns first emerged during reviews of project fund records conducted between 2024 and 2025. Those reviews, it said, identified discrepancies between balances reflected in records maintained by academic units and figures reported by the foundation.
The issue was subsequently raised during meetings with foundation officials in June 2025, February 2026, and June 2026.
Despite those discussions, UP CMC said the differences identified by the affected units have yet to be fully reconciled.
The College also disclosed that during a June 2 meeting with the College Executive Board, the foundation presented a prorated distribution of remaining funds to academic departments. However, according to UP CMC, questions remained regarding how the figures were computed, where the balance of project funds could be found, and how affected units could access the full amounts they believed should be available.
To establish the facts, the College is calling for the release of audited financial statements from 2016 to 2025, audit reports, detailed accountings of funds received and disbursed, and written reconciliations between foundation records and project fund records maintained by academic units.
The statement also emphasized that possible legal action should not prevent the disclosure of documents necessary to determine the status of funds administered through the foundation.
Throughout the statement, UP CMC stressed that it was not assigning blame or prejudging responsibility.
“We do not wish to prejudge the cause of the unreconciled differences or the responsibility of any person,” the College said.
Still, the message from the College was unmistakable. While the foundation says it has identified missing funds and is preparing legal action, UP CMC is demanding the records and explanations necessary to independently verify those conclusions.
As the controversy enters a new phase, the debate is no longer simply about whether PHP4.4 million is missing. It is now also about whose accounting of the facts will ultimately withstand scrutiny.
