By CHINO S. LEYCO
State subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) accelerated in October this year due to National Food Authority (NFA) and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the government's total financial aid to GOCCs amounted to ₱7.23 billion in October, up by 366 percent compared with ₱1.55 billion in the same month last year.
According to the Treasury, bulk of financial support, or 5.43 billion, was given to the state-run companies mandated to handle the government's health insurance and price buffer stocks.
NFA, with its mandate to ensure the country has sufficient supply of buffer stocks of rice, cornered ₱2.77 billion in subsidies.
PhilHealth, on the other hand, received ₱2.66 billion from the government to support its mandate in providing social health insurance coverage to all Filipinos.
At end October, total subsidies to NFA and PhilHealth reached ₱7 billion and ₱61.56 billion, respectively.
Other GOCCs that received substantial subsidies were National Irrigation Administration with ₱483 million, Local Water Utilities Administration with ₱276 million, National Power Corp. with ₱253 million, Philippine Heart Center ₱110 million and National Electrification Administration ₱109 million.
In the first 10 months of the year, the accumulated subsidies to government firms stood at ₱158.73 billion, 25 percent from ₱126.38 billion in the same period last year.
The national government is regularly extending its financial support to GOCCs to help them in their operational expenses that are not supported by the revenue they generate.
In 2019, the government has allotted ₱187.1 billion this year for subsidies to GOCCs.