Record high dividends from state firms seen

State-run corporations are expected to remit a record high P40 billion in dividends this year, the Department of Finance said Friday.

Citing data from its corporate affairs group, the DOF said that end-September dividend remittances from government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) reached P34.2 billion, up 58 percent year-on-year, and already exceeded the P30.5 billion collected during the entire 2017.

“We have P34 billion now, and we expect with the remittance of Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) of P6 billion representing the second installment on dividend in arrears by December, dividend collection will hit P40 billion,” Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia Cruz said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

As of September, 55 GOCCs remitted dividends to the National Treasury, with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines contributing P6.2 billion, the biggest amount so far.

Also among the largest contributors were the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (P3.6 billion); Philippine Ports Authority (P 3.1 billion); PDIC (P2.8 billion); Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (P2.6 billion); Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (P2.5 billion); Manila International Airport Authority (P2.3 billion), and National Power Corp. (P1.4 billion).

Dominguez explained that the higher dividend collections thus far came on the back of “efficient monitoring of GOCCs by the DOF’s corporate affairs group, as well as by finance officials sitting on the boards of these state-run firms.”

State 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.

GOCCs’ dividend remittances last year increased by a tenth from P27.7 billion in 2016.