GOCC subsidies fall nearly 27% in June

Subsidies provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell 26.68% from a year earlier in June, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.

The BTr said budgetary support to GOCCs was PHP 7.45 billion in June, against P10.16 billion a year earlier.

Month on month, GOCC subsidies fell 5.90% from PHP 7.92 billion in May.

State-owned firms receive monthly subsidies from the National Government to support their daily operations if their revenue is insufficient.

In June, the National Food Authority (NFA) topped the subsidy list with PHP 3.43 billion or 46.07% of the total. It received no subsidies in February and March.

This was followed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which received PHP 2.39 billion.

The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority was granted P268 million in subsidies in June.

State-run firms on the subsidy list included the Philippine Heart Center (PHP 184 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PHP 165 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (PHP 124 million), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PHP 114 million), and the National Power Corp. (PHP 106 million).

Other GOCCs obtaining subsidies of less than P100 million include the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PHP 96 million), the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (PHP 86 million), the National Dairy Authority (PHP 75 million), the Light Rail Transit Authority (PHP 74 million), and the Philippine National Railways (PHP 72 million).

Those receiving less than PHP 50 million were the Lung Center of the Philippines (PHP 49 million), the Development Academy of the Philippines (PHP 40 million), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (PHP 34 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PHP 29 million), the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (PHP 20 million), the People’s Television Network, Inc. (PHP 18 million), the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (PHP 14 million) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (PHP 11 million).

Also in this tier were the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (PHP 10 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P8 million), the Southern Philippines Development Authority (PHP 7 million), the Philippine Tax Academy (PHP 5 million), the Philippine Center for Economic Development (P5 million), and the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (PHP 4 million).

Receiving no subsidies were the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Small Business Corp., the National Electrification Administration, the National Housing Authority, the Bases Conversion Development Authority, the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp.-13, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the Tourism Infrastructure & Enterprise Zone Authority and the Tourism Promotions Board.

In the first six months, GOCC subsidies totaled PHP 52.50 billion, down 21.89%.

The NIA was the top recipient during the period with PHP 17.73 billion. This was followed by PSALM (PHP 8 billion) and the NFA (PHP 7.18 billion).

As of July, the Department of Finance had collected PHP 105 billion in GOCC dividends. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante