Subsidies...

Interestingly, the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth), which has been the top recipient of government subsidies since 2014, has yet to get its share of subsidies from the government since the start of the year even though the country is still in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. For this year, Philhealth is set to receive its P79.99 billion subsidy under the P5.024-trillion 2022 national budget. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Philhealth had the biggest share of subsidies last year with P80.98 billion or 43.8 percent of the total amount disbursed.

For the month of May alone, government subsidies to GOCCS settled at P7.905 billion, crashing by 82.3 percent from P44.69 billion in the same month last year.

Leading the list of top subsidy recipients for the month is still NIA with P6.26 billion, followed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (P400 million), SBC (P200 million), Philippine Heart Center (P147 million), and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P115 million).

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic last year, GOCC subsidies dropped to P184.77 billion, the lowest level since 2018’s P136.65 billion.

The Department of Finance earlier reported that cash dividends remitted by GOCCS since President Duterte took office in mid-2016 hit a record-high of P374.54 billion, the highest ever amount collected under any administration.

This was also more than double the amount collected under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III at P164.81 billion and is also more than six times the equivalent of the P60.82 billion dividend remittances under the Arroyo administration, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Wednesday.

Under Republic Act 7656 or the Dividends Law, GOCCS are required to declare and remit at least 50 percent of their annual net earnings as cash, stock, or property dividends to the national government.