SUBSIDIES provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) declined by 82.31% year on year to P7.905 billion in May, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.
Budgetary support to GOCCs also fell 54.49% compared to the April total. They amounted to P32.296 billion in the year to date, according to preliminary data from the BTr.
Subsidies are granted to GOCCs to cover operational expenses not supported by their revenue.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) was the top beneficiary, receiving P6.262 billion or 79.22% of total subsidies in May. The NIA received P1.303 billion in April providing a low base for the 380% month-on-month rise.
The National Housing Authority (NHA), the National Food Authority (NFA), and the National Privacy Commission were among the major non-financial GOCCs that did not receive subsidies.
The NFA was the top beneficiary in April, when it was given P2.055 billion. The NHA was the top beneficiary in March, when it received P2.979 billion.
The Light Rail Transit Authority received P6 million, down 97.6% month on month.
Other top recipients in May were the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (P400 million), the Small Business Corp. (P200 million), the Philippine National Railways (P161 million), and the Philippine Heart Center (P147 million).
Other GOCCs that were given more than P50 million were the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P115 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P107 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (P74 million), the Local Water Utilities Administration (P61 million), and the Lung Center of the Philippines (P58 million).
Other GOCCs that received no subsidies during the month were the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Social Housing Finance Corp., and the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
The year-to-date subsidy total was down 59.6% from a year earlier. The top recipient year to date was the NIA, which was given P15.263 billion, the most of any GOCC, accounting for 47.26% of all subsidies.
This was followed by the NFA and the NHA, which got P3.243 billion and P3.194 billion respectively.
Government subsidies to GOCCs totaled P184.77 billion in 2021, a 19.3% decline from the previous year. In 2021, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. received P80.98 billion, nearly 44% of the total. — Diego Gabriel C. Robles
