State-run firms remit P32.31B; Aquino receives dividends

Earnings of the national government from state-owned enterprises rose by more than a tenth last year amid the continuing improvement in the way these companies are run.

The additional funds are expected to provide more fiscal space for the Aquino administration, which is spending for infrastructure, education, and healthcare at record levels to help bridge the yawning development gap between the rich and the poor.

“Every peso collected goes to the welfare of the public,” President Aquino said during the turnover ceremony of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCC) dividends at Malacañang.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs said 50 state-owned companies remitted a total of P32.31 billion in dividends to the national government, up 15 percent year-on-year. The number of companies that remitted profits to the government rose from 38 last year to 50 this year.

GOCCs are required to remit at least half of their net profit to the Bureau of the Treasury.

President Aquino said that in his three  years in office, state-owned enterprises have remitted a total of P95.38 billion in dividends to the national government.

This was well over the P81.54 billion the national government got from GOCCs from 2002 to 2010 during the Arroyo administration.

“This means, just to be clear, that their average collection of P9.06 billion in nine years, we have already exceeded with an average of P27.25 billion in just three and a half years,”

Mr. Aquino said in Filipino.

He said the improvement in collections could be attributed to the administration’s emphasis on good governance and transparency. The government has also worked hard to install professionals instead of cronies at top posts of GOCCs.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad in a separate statement after the event said remittances from GOCCs would help the government fund its massive reconstruction program in Visayas following the damage caused by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“Restoring normalcy in Yolanda-stricken communities is still a priority for the Aquino administration, one that this year’s GOCC dividends can very well address,” Abad said.

This year’s biggest contributor was Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), which regulates the gaming industry and runs casinos on its own. It remitted at total of P9.791 billion to state coffers.

Land Bank of the Philippines, for its part, remitted a total of P6.29 billion. In 2013, the state-run bank’s profit rose by 9 percent to P11.7 billion.

Other members of this year’s “Billionaires’ Club,” or GOCCs that remitted at least P1 billion to the national government, included seven GOCCs.

These were Development Bank of the Philippines with P3.61 billion, Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corporation (P2.5 billion), Bases Conversion Development Authority (P2.107 billion,) Manila International Airport Authority (P1.57 billion), Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (1.5 billion), Philippine Ports Authority (P1.422 billion) and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (P1.05 billion).

Cracking the whip on erring or nonperforming GOCCs has been high in the Aquino administration’s list of priorities, especially following the discovery of fat bonuses and exorbitant allowances being received by company executives before.

In 2011, Congress passed the GOCC Governance Act to “promote financial viability and fiscal discipline” among state-owned firms.