Subsidies to GOCCs down 17.6%

Subsidies distributed to state-run corporations amounted to P2.32 billion last July, with more than half of the amount received by the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the latest Treasury documents showed.

During the first seven months, subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) slid by 17.6 percent to P46.29 billion from P56.168 billion last year.

In July alone, subsidies to GOCCs were 65 percent lower than the P6.63 billion given away a year ago.

At the start of the second half, NEA received P1.22 billion in subsidies, bringing the agency’s end-July total to P1.96 billion. NEA handles the government’s rural electrification program.

The other GOCCs that were granted subsidies last July were National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (P250 million); National Irrigation Administration or NIA (P276 million); Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (P345 million); Philippine Heart Center (P6 million); Philippine National Railways (P26 million); Philippine Rice Research Institute (P144 million); Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (P43 million), and Southern Philippines Development Authority (P4 million).