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 P7.45 billion in June, against P10.16 billion a year earlier.
Month on month, GOCC subsidies fell 5.90% from P7.92 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 P3.43 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 P2.39 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 (P184 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (P165 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P124 million), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P114 million), and the National Power Corp. (P106 million).
Other GOCCs obtaining subsidies of less than P100 million include the Philippine Rice Research Institute (P96 million), the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (P86 million), the National Dairy Authority (P75 million), the Light Rail Transit Authority (P74 million), and the Philippine National Railways (P72 million).
Those receiving less than P50 million were the Lung Center of the Philippines (P49 million), the Development Academy of the Philippines (P40 million), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P34 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P29 million),the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P20 million), the People’s Television Network, Inc. (P18 million), the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (P14 million) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (P11 million).
Also in this tier were the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (P10 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P8 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 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 P52.50 billion, down 21.89%.
The NIA was the top recipient during the period with P17.73 billion. This was followed by PSALM (P8 billion) and the NFA (P7.18 billion).
As of July, the Department of Finance had collected P105 billion in GOCC dividends. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
