DOF to require GOCC board OK before Treasury release of subsidies

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Department of Finance will require state-run corporations’ respective boards to first clear their receipt of subsidies from the national government through a resolution.

“I just want to make sure that before we get any request, it should be supported by a board resolution,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters last week.

“Right now, they just give it [the request] to their administrator or the president who will sign,” Dominguez noted.

Dominguez said the Bureau of the Treasury, which releases the subsidies being granted to government-owned and/or -controlled corporations, should require submission of the GOCCs’ board resolutions before giving them additional money.

“We’re like a bank – if you like to withdraw money, give me your board resolution,” Dominguez said.

According to Dominguez, the new rule will be implemented “right away.”

“I want the board to be sure that they are involved just like in any company – the action of the executive has to be supported by the board,” he said.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs had said that up to 90 percent of the subsidies that state corporations receive from the national government were being spent on programs and projects, while the remainder covered operational expenses.

Under the proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018, the government was expected to give away a record P162.6 billion in subsidies to GOCCs next year.

The state support that GOCCs would receive in 2018 will exceed the programmed P135.5 billion this year, budget documents showed.

/atm