The national government’s subsidies to state-run corporations jumped 130 percent to P45.3 billion in the first quarter, with Philippine Health Insurance Corp. getting the biggest chunk.
The subsidies given away to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) from January to March exceeded the P19.7 billion granted in the same three-month period last year, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.
As of end-March, government financial institutions received P12.3 billion; major non-financial government corporations, P12.6 billion, and other government corporations, P20.4 billion.
In March alone, subsidies to GOCCs climbed to P35.2 billion from P8.4 billion a year ago, mainly on the back of the P12.3 billion given to Land Bank of the Philippines as well as the P15.1 billion received by PhilHealth that month.
“Subsidy [in March] increased by P26.8 billion or by more than 300 percent owing to the first batch of releases for health insurance premiums of senior citizens enrolled in the national health insurance program of PhilHealth and the first of a series of cash download of P4.3 billion for the tax reform cash transfer project under the Landbank for some 1.8 million existing conditional cash transfer beneficiary households,” the Department of Budget and Management said in report, referring to the mitigating measure under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.
“Other significant releases to GOCCs include the P3.4-billion subsidy to the National Irrigation Administration for its irrigation projects, P1.8 billion to the National Food Authority for its rice importation program, and P1.5-billion power subsidy to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority,” the DBM added.
At the end of the first three months, PhilHealth’s subsidies reached P15.2 billion.
The latest data on its website showed that in 2016, PhilHealth had 41.2 million members with 52.2 million dependents, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 93.4 million or 91 percent of the projected 2016 population.
Last year, PhilHealth was also the top recipient of government subsidies worth P47.2 billion.