GOCC subsidies fall more than 25% in October

SUBSIDIES for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell 25.47% year on year in October, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.

The BTr said budgetary support to state-run firms amounted to P8.92 billion in October, retreating from the year-earlier level of P11.968 billion.

Month on month, GOCC subsidies fell 3.08%.

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

In October, the National Irrigation Administration received P6.274 billion in subsidies or 70.34% of the total. It also topped the subsidy list in the 10-month period with P34.031 billion.

The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority was granted P843 million in October, and the National Food Authority P790 million.

Also on the subsidy list were the Philippine Heart Center (P184 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P124 million) and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P115 million).

Other GOCCs obtaining subsidies less than P100 million were the National Dairy Authority (P86 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (P76 million), the Light Rail Transit Authority (P74 million), the Philippine Rice Research Institute (P67 million), the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (P64 million), the Lung Center of the Philippines (P59 million) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P34 million).

Also receiving subsidies were the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P27 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), the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P11 million), the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (P10 million), the Development Academy of the Philippines (P9 million), the Southern Philippines Development Authority (P7 million), the Philippine Center for Economic Development (P5 million), the Philippine Tax Academy (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 National Power Corp., the Philippine National Railways, the Bases Conversion Development Authority, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Reclamation Authority, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Sugar Regulatory Administration, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the Tourism Promotions Board.

As of October, GOCC subsidies stood at P88.374 billion, down 24.6% from a year earlier. — Katherine K. Chan