SUBSIDIES granted to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell 63.32% year on year to P15.536 billion in August, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Budgetary support to GOCCs also fell 48.76% compared to the P30.321 billion posted in July. Year to date, subsidies amounted to P90.602 billion, according to preliminary data from the BTr.
Subsidies are extended to GOCCs to cover operational expenses not supported by their revenue.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was the top recipient, taking in P11.231 billion or 72.29% of all subsidies in August. It was also the top beneficiary in July, taking in P22.462 billion.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) received P2.535 billion, against P5.872 billion the preceding month.
The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority received P291 million in August, it received no subsidies in July.
Other top recipients were the National Food Authority (P219 million), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P164 million), the National Privacy Commission (P147 million), the Philippine Heart Center (P147 million), the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (P109 million), and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P107 million).
GOCCs that were given at least P50 million were the Philippine National Railways (P96 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (P92 million), and the Lung Center of the Philippines (P58 million).
Among the major nonfinancial GOCCs, the Local Water Utilities Administration, the National Electrification Administration, and the National Housing Authority (NHA) received no subsidies.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the National Tobacco Administration, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Small Business Corp., the Social Housing Finance Corp., and the Sugar Regulatory Administration also received no subsidies.
The year-to-date subsidy total declined by 33.73% from a year earlier.
The top recipient in the year to date has been PhilHealth, which was given P33.693 billion, accounting for 37.19% of all subsidies.
This was followed by the NIA and the NHA, which received P26.753 billion and P8.841 billion, respectively.
In 2021, government subsidies to GOCCs fell 19.3% to P184.77 billion. Of the total, PhilHealth received P80.98 billion, nearly 44% of all subsidies. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson