DOTR agencies turn over P11.33-B dividends

Three state-run firms under the Department of Transportation (DOTr) remitted P11.33 billion in dividends to the national government last year, the Department of Finance said Monday.

Last Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on behalf of the Bureau of the Treasury received three checks from the respective heads of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

CAAP turned over P6.22 billion; MIAA, P2.01 billion; and PPA, P3.1 billion.

The turnover was witnessed by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on the sidelines of the roadshow held at the Clark Freeport Zone ahead of the Philippines’ hosting of the 51st Asian Development Bank annual meeting on May 3 to 6.

The DOF said the three DOTr-supervised GOCCs were among those that remitted the largest cash dividends to the Treasury last year.

Tugade said, “I always tell our revenue-generating agencies to improve their collection” as “this is our way of contributing to the government, especially as we usher in the ‘golden age of Philippine infrastructure.’”

Last year, GOCCs remitted a total of P30.45 billion in dividends, up 9.8 percent from the P27.73 billion in 2016.

“Dividend collections last year came from 53 GOCCs, including the CAAP, which had not remitted dividends for the past four years, but has now emerged as one of the biggest dividend contributors,” the DOF said.

“CAAP was able to collect nearly P6 billion from Philippine Airlines in October last year, after President Duterte ordered the DOTr not to extend the deadline it had given to the flag carrier to pay its long-overdue navigational fees and other charges,” the DOF explained. —BEN O. DE VERA