State firms’ 7-MO dividends exceeded 2017 total yield

Cash dividends remitted by state-run corporations to the national treasury from January to July amounted to P32.03 billion, already exceeding the full-year haul in 2017, the Department of Finance said.

In a statement Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the end-July dividend remittances were 5.2-percent bigger than the P30.46 billion collected during the entire 2017.

“This is a remarkable financial achievement … The dividends will help us offset the subsidies we need to pay out to the GOCCs (government-owned and/or controlled corporations) performing crucial social missions,” Dominguez said.

Also, the dividends “will go a long way in helping us hold down deficits and continue funding the infrastructure and social programs of President Duterte,” he added.

So far this year, 54 GOCCs remitted their respective cash dividends, of which the top contributors were the following: Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, P6.2 billion; Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), P3.1 billion; Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., P2.8 billion; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), P2.6 billion; and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), P2.5 billion.

Also among those that remitted the largest cash dividends thus far in 2018 were the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, P2.5 billion; Manila International Airport Authority, P2.3 billion; Food Terminal Inc., P963.8 million; Development Bank of the Philippines, P959 million; and Bases Conversion and Development Authority, P905.7 million.

“Among the GOCCs that have substantially increased their dividend contributions were Pagcor, whose remittance rose by P1.4 billion; PCSO, which was able to remit for the first time; and the PPA, which remitted up to 60 percent of its net profits as of July this year,” Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia J. Cruz told reporters last month.

State-run corporations are mandated to declare and remit at least half of their incomes to the national government as dividends under Republic Act No. 7656 or the GOCC Dividend Law.