PCSO AMONG THE BEST
The Office of the President and the Department of Finance congratulate the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), for being among the best-performing government- owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), in Malacañang on Wednesday. Leading the awarding of the Certificate of Acknowledgement of Dividend Remittances to the top-performing GOCCs were President Rodrigo Duterte, former president and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd.
THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office ( PCSO) was listed in the “billionaires row” of the Department of Finance ( DoF) as one of the best performing governmentowned and controlled corporations ( GOCCs) in 2017 for remitting P2.5 billion to the National Treasury.
President Rodrigo Duterte, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd led the awarding of the Certificate of Acknowledgement of Dividend Remittances to the top performing GOCCs last Wednesday in Malacañang.
“This is a remarkable financial achievement. The same top contributors I mentioned earlier including now, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, made this feat possible,” Dominguez said.
The PCSO was fifth among seven GOCCs that remitted at least P1 billion, representing 69 percent of total remittances or P22.052 billion, PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said.
“Our agency is going stronger than ever with its multibillion lottery industry with P55 billion to P60 billion projected revenues this year,” he added.
“We are very proud. We were seated at the front row they called, ‘ The Billionaires Row’ from among all the GOCCs. Actually, [ the dividends] are a huge help in nation building, especially for utilities ( e. g. electricity, water), and other infrastructures to beef up the economy,” he added.
According to Dominguez, out of 125 GOCCs, 54 remitted a total of P32.03 billion to the National Treasury from January to July 2018.
The top contributors include the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines with P6.225 billion, followed by the Philippine Ports Authority with P3.103 billion, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. with P2.844 billion, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. with P2.593 billion, the PCSO at P2.535 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with P2.5 billion, and the Manila International Airport Authority with P2.251 billion.
Pursuant to Section 3 of Republic Act 7656, all 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.
The total dividend collections in the first seven months of this year already exceeded the full- year total of P27.73 billion dividends contributed by GOCCs in 2016 and P30.46 billion in 2017.
Last year, dividends remitted by GOCCs to the National Treasury amounted to P30.45 billion, representing a 9.8 percent increase from the previous year’s collections of P27.73 billion.
The 2017 dividend collections exceeded the P27.73 billion remittances in 2016 even if Land Bank of the Philippines’ P6 billion dividends in 2017 were not included to allow the institution to recapitalize and better serve the increasing development needs of the country. Had these dividends been included, the total GOCC remittances would have reached P36.45 billion in 2017.
The dividend collections last year came from 53 GOCCs based on the DOF website.
“The dividends will help offset the subsidies we need to pay out to the GOCCs performing crucial social missions. They will go a long way in helping us hold down deficits and continue funding the infrastructures and social program of President Duterte,” said Dominguez in his opening remarks.