State aid to GOCCs drops in June

STATE subsidies to non-financial government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell in June, the Bureau of the Treasury said on Friday. Last month, the national government only disbursed P183 million, or 90.6 percent lower than the P1.94 billion released in the same period a year ago.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority got the lion’s share of financial support at P92 million, followed by the National Livelihood and Development Corp. at P65 million, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) at P8 million.

The remaining amount was shared among the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), National Dairy Authority, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), Southern Philippines Development Authority, and the Lung Center of the Philippines.a

Despite the drop in last month’s subsidies, state aid to GOCCs were still seven percent higher at P7.466 billion in the first semester, as against last year’s P6.981 billion.

For the first six months, the National Food Authority enjoyed the biggest aid at P2.85 billion, followed by National Housing Authority with P1.87 billion, and National Telecommunications Commission with P1.025 billion. The fourth biggest recipient was the National Livelihood Development Corp. at P980 million.

The Philippine Coconut Authority received P244 million, while the Philippine Rice Research Institute, P174 million.

State-owned hospitals such as the NKTI, PHC and the PCMC received P169 million, P139 million and P109 million, respectively.

On Thursday, the Department of Finance vowed that it would stick to this year’s budget deficit cap of P325 billion, as it would seriously look into those GOCCs that have been a financial strain on the national government. –Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Manila Times