MANILA — Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a statement on Friday that record remittances from 54 government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) will go a long way in helping the Duterte administration hold down deficits and sustain its aggressive spending on infrastructure and human capital development.
He earlier said at an event in Malacañang Palace that the “remarkable financial achievement” of these GOCCs, which remitted a combined PHP32 billion over the January-July period alone, will help offset the subsidies that the government needs to shell out to other GOCCs performing crucial social missions, such as ensuring stable food prices and providing electrification and safe water supply to low-income communities.
A total of 54 GOCCs remitted a record PHP32.03 billion in dividends in the first seven months of 2018, which is roughly PHP1.6 billion more or 5.2 percent higher than the PHP30.46 billion collected from these state-run firms for the entire year of 2017, he said.
“It is difficult to imagine our economic achievement without the tremendous contributions of our GOCCs. They have made possible mass housing, rural electrification, secure and safe water supplies for our burgeoning population, reliable mass transport and stable food prices, efficient health programs and social security services,” Dominguez said during this year’s GOCC Day held at the Rizal Hall of the Palace.
Duterte received during the event a ceremonial cheque representing the dividend contributions of GOCCs for the January to June 2018 period amounting to PHP32.03 billion.
Under Republic Act No. 7656, GOCCs are required to declare and remit to the national government at least half of their income as dividends.
As part of its fiscal oversight functions, the Department of Finance (DOF) is responsible for overseeing the financial sustainability of GOCCs. Fiscal support, such as national government guarantees on GOCC loans, advances for debt servicing and the determination and collection of GOCC dividends are also within the ambit of the DOF.
Dominguez commended the DOF’s Corporate Affairs Group led by Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko, who, along with Assistant Secretaries Mark Dennis Joven and Soledad Emilia Cruz, “assiduous(ly) collected the dividends” from GOCCs.
The government has a total of 125 GOCCs. Its newest GOCC is the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB), which caters to the banking and financial needs of overseas-based Filipinos.
Dominguez said that because each GOCC has a unique mission, they have different management requirements and financial performance standards.
“Some, as we know, are designed to lose money and require subsidies to fulfill their missions. Others, simply, are not managed well enough. The greater number, I am happy to note, operate with such efficiency that they are able to turn in a profit and remit dividends to the national government,” he said.
Last year, total dividend remittances from GOCCs reached PHP30.46 billion.
The top GOCCS that contributed at least PHP1 billion in dividend remittances in 2017 were the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Manila International Airport Authority, Philippine Ports Authority, National Power Corp., Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
From January to July this year, the dividend remittances of PHP32.03 billion was made possible by the same top contributors for 2017, and a newcomer to the list — the Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes Office. (DOF PR/PNA)
