SUBSIDIES provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) more than doubled in September, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.
The BTr reported that budgetary support to GOCCs jumped 158.2% year on year to P23.652 billion. It also increased 52.2% from August.
The government provides subsidies to GOCCs to help cover operational expenses.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was the top recipient, having been granted P11.231 billion or 47.5% of all subsidies during the month. From the first nine months, it took in P44.924 billion worth of subsidies to lead all GOCCs.
This was followed by the National Irrigation Administration, which received P2.663 billion in September.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority was given P2.411 billion in September. It did not receive any subsidies in the previous month.
Other top recipients were the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (P2.135 billion), the National Privacy Commission (P1.319 billion), the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (P1.086 billion), and the National Food Authority (P1.04 billion).
Other GOCCs that were given at least P50 million were the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (P688 million), the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P151 million), the Philippine Heart Center (P147 million), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and Philippine National Railways (both P107 million), the Philippine Coconut Authority (P89 million), the Lung Center of the Philippines (P58 million) and the Social Housing Finance Corp. (P51 million).
The Local Water Utilities Administration, the National Electrification Administration, and the National Housing Authority were among the major nonfinancial GOCCs that did not receive subsidies.
Other GOCCs that received no subsidies during the month were the National Tobacco Administration, Small Business Corp., the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
Subsidies amounted to P114.25 billion in the first nine months, down 21.7% from a year earlier.
In 2021, government subsidies to GOCCs stood at P184.77 billion, a 19.3% decline from the previous year. PhilHealth received P80.98 billion, nearly 44% of the total. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson