GOCC subsidies drop 39% in November

SUBSIDIES provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell 38.91% year on year in November, the Bureau of the Treasury said.

Budgetary support to state-run firms totaled P7.47 billion in November.

Month on month, GOCC subsidies fell 16.23%.

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

In November, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) received P5.7 billion in subsidies or 76.26% of the total.

This was followed by the National Food Authority (NFA), which received P750 million, the Philippine Heart Center (P184 million), and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P124 million).

Other GOCCs on the subsidy list were the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P106 million), the Tourism Promotions Board (P102 million), the Light Rail Transit Authority (P74 million), the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp.-13 (P64 million), the PRRI (P62 million), the Lung Center of the Philippines (P59 million), and Philippine Coconut Authority (P56 million).

GOCCs that obtained subsidies of less than P50 million were the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P34 million), the National Dairy Authority (P27 million), the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P24 million), and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P20 million).

Also receiving subsidies were the People’s Television Network, Inc. (P18 million), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P16 million), the Manila International Airport Authority (P14 million), the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (P10 million).

State-run firms receiving less than P10 million were the Development Academy of the Philippines (P9 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).

GOCCs receiving no subsidies were the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Small Business Corp., the National Electrification Administration, the National Housing Authority, the National Power Corp., the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Philippine National Railways, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Reclamation Authority, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Sugar Regulatory Authority, and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

In the first 11 months, GOCC subsidies totaled P95.85 billion, down 25.95% from a year earlier.

The NIA had the most subsidies during the 11-month period with P39.73 billion, followed by the NFA with P13.65 billion.

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