MANILA (UPDATED) - President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed a bill seeking to elevate a campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Calauan town, Laguna to a state-funded university.

Under the measure, the PUP campus in the municipality of Calauan will be elevated to a state-funded university, mandating it to offer graduate, undergraduate, and short-term technical-vocational courses.

The government will also have to disburse funds for the said institution.

In his letter to both leaders of Congress dated Aug. 8, Duterte said "there is no pressing need to elevate the Calauan Campus to a state-funded university."

"There are already a number of private, state, and local colleges and universities in the Province of Laguna and nearby towns which offer the same undergraduate and graduate courses," Duterte said.

Duterte also pointed out that the "rapid" creation of new campuses of state universities and colleges tends to "adversely affect the quality of education in these institutions."

Former senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero sponsored the bill before finishing his Senate term.

The PUP campus in Calauan was created in 2009 through a memorandum of agreement between the PUP system and the Calauan local government.

PUP has three other campuses in Laguna located in the cities of Biñan, Sta. Rosa and San Pedro.