GOCC subsidies down nearly 12% in August

SUBSIDIES provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell 11.89% year on year in August, the Bureau of the Treasury said.

The budgetary support to state-run firms totaled P8.02 billion in August, against P9.1 billion a year earlier.

Month on month, GOCC subsidies fell 17.64%.

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

In August, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) topped the subsidy list with P3.43 billion or 42.74% of the total. This was followed by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., which received P2.03 billion.

The National Food Authority (NFA) was granted P750 million in subsidies in August.

State-run firms on the subsidy list included the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp.-13 (P337 million), the National Electrification Administration (P200 million), the Philippine Heart Center (P184 million), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P150 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P124 million), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P114 million) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (P101 million).

Other GOCCs obtaining subsidies of less than P100 million were the Sugar Regulatory Administration (P89 million), the Light Rail Transit Authority (P74 million), the Lung Center of the Philippines (P59 million), the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (P55 million), the Philippine Rubber Research Institute (P44 million) and the Development Academy of the Philippines (P40 million).

Also receiving subsidies were the Philippine National Railways (P31 million), the National Power Corp. (P30 million), the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P28 million), the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (P27 million), the National Dairy Authority (P23 million), the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P20 million), the People’s Television Network, Inc. (P18 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P15 million), and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (P14 million).

State-run firms with subsidies amounting to P10 million or less were the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (P10 million), the Southern Philippines Development Authority (P7 million), the Philippine Tax Academy (P5 million), the Philippine Center for Economic Development (P5 million), and the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (P4 million).

Receiving no subsidies were the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Small Business Corp., the National Housing Authority, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, the Philippine Reclamation Authority, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, and the Tourism Promotions Board.

In the first eight months, GOCC subsidies hit P70.25 billion, down 19.27% from a year earlier.

The NIA took in the most subsidies in the first eight months with P24.53 billion, followed by NFA at P8.68 billion.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has said that GOCCs are expected to generate P157 billion in remittances this year, with 53 remitting P116.84 billion as of September. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante