GOCC subsidies hit P2.66 B in February

Credit extended to state corporations rose nearly four times in February versus last year as all but one of them got funding, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

A total of P2.66 billion in subsidies were extended to government agencies and companies in February, up from just P685 million in the same period a year ago.

Twenty out of 21 firms received funding from the National Government that month. For the first two months, the tally surged more than 400 percent to P4.36 billion.

The government extends financial assistance to its companies and financial institutions to help them sustain their operations and do their mandates.

In turn, these companies are required by law to remit at least 50 percent of their annual earnings to government coffers as dividends. Data on remitted earnings still were unavailable.

In February, only the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. did not receive state money. In the prior month, PhilHealth received the highest funding worth P1.44 billion.

This time around, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which manages the Subic freeport zone where trade goods enter tax-free, got the bulk of the subsidies at P1.47 billion.

It was followed by Philippine Children’s Medical Center with P543 million, National Irrigation Administration (P149 million), Philippine Rice Research Institute (P86 million), Philippine Heart Center (P53 million), Philippine National Railways ( P51 million), Development Academy of the Philippines (P45 million) and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P43 million).

Other firms which secured financing were the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P38 million), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P33 million), Lung Center of the Philippines (P32 million), Light Rail Transit Authority (P30 million), National Dairy Authority (P28 million), People’s Television Network Inc. (P17 million) and Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P12 million).