GOCC subsidies rise over 130% in 1st quarter

SUBSIDIES granted to state corporations more than doubled in the first quarter, according to Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data, with the bulk of the subsidies going to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)

Overall subsidies remitted by the national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in the first three months of the year totaled P45.29 billion, up 130.29% from a year earlier.

PhilHealth received a total of P15.21 billion during the first quarter, about a third of the overall subsidies, followed by the Land Bank of the Philippines at P12.33 billion.

The National Irrigation Administration, meanwhile, was the third-largest recipient of government subsidies at P8.34 billion.

The National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. was the only GOCC that did not receive a subsidy during the period.

Subsidies are given to GOCCs to cover operational expenses that are not supported by their revenue to fund specific projects or programs.

The bulk of the first- quarter support to government firms was given in March, totaling P35.24 billion, up 319.17% from a year earlier, and up 286.15% from April.

PhilHealth and LANDBANK were the largest recipients that month at P15.09 billion and P12.33 billion, respectively.

The government is budgeting P188.93 billion for subsidies to GOCCs this year, up 44.12% from the actual funds issued in 2017.

Subsidies in the first quarter are equivalent to 23.97% of the 2018 subsidy budget. —