GOCC board approval to be required for subsidies

SUBSIDIES to state-run firms will now require prior approval from the Governance Commission for Government-owned and -controlled corporations (GCG) board before they are granted, the Finance department said.

“Anything, or any subsidy or any approval for a loan, there should be a board resolution, so the board knows of it,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a forum on Thursday.

He said that this will ensure that the board is kept up to date on the potential need for subsidies.

“Before we get any request it should be supported by a board resolution. Right now they just give it to their administrator or the president who will sign,” Mr. Dominguez said.

“We’re like a bank. If you like to withdraw money, give me your board resolution,” he added.

However, Mr. Dominguez said the requirement does not constitute additional red tape.

“(Boards) can get that passed, they meet every month. I’m not slowing it down. The only change is, I want the board to be sure that they are involved just like in any company. The action of the executive has to be supported by the board,” he said.

Mr. Dominguez said that the Finance department will issue immediately an order to mandate such rules on the GCG board, which he is an ex-off icio member of.

As of July, total subsidies to governmentled firms stood at P75.09 billion, up 4.5% from a year earlier.

So far, the government has remitted 49.32% of the P152.22 billion planned subsidies this year. —