Other countries in Southeast Asia have universities that are regarded as the best in the world. National University of Singapore, for example, is ranked in the 2018 THE World University rankings as the 22nd best university globally, and the best in Asia. Both Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and Malaysia's University of Malaya are in the top 100 in Asia. All these universities are publicly funded.

Here's the thing: the University of the Philippines can make it into this list, but only if the government can give it enough funding.