Despite a double-digit drop in dividend remittances early this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) remains confident that total collections from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in 2025 will surpass the more than ₱136 billion recorded in 2024.

Total dividends collected by the DOF for the first four months declined by 14.2 percent to P76 billion from ₱88.6 billion in the same period in 2024. Last year’s total dividends was remitted by 47 GOCCs.

“The amount is expected to exceed P100 billion by the end of the year and surpass the level in 2024,” the DOF said in a statement released on Wednesday, May 21.

To recall, 52 GOCCs remitted a total of ₱136.3 billion in dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) as of Dec. 9, 2024. It exceeded the ₱100 billion full-year target, marking a 35 percent increase from the same period in 2023.

According to the DOF, the dividend collection followed the president’s directive “to ensure that the government has enough resources to fund more public services that will benefit every Filipino.”

“GOCC dividends are a major source of non-tax revenues for the national government to fund [the Marcos administration] priority programs without the need to impose new taxes on the people,” the agency said.

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto thanked the GOCCs “for their continued support to the national government and for heeding the president’s call for an all-inclusive, whole-of-government approach in realizing the government’s development plans.”

“These non-tax revenues allow us to support the government’s expenditure program for the year, enabling the DOF to stay on track with its fiscal program and mobilize funds for our priority programs and projects,” Recto said.

Under Republic Act No. 7656, or the Dividend Law, GOCCs are mandated to remit at least 50 percent of their net earnings from the previous year as dividends to the national government.

“To maximize non-tax revenue, the DOF has requested GOCCs to increase this share to 75 percent,” the agency noted.

As of May 15, around 50 GOCCs have remitted a total of ₱76 billion in dividends, with about 13 of them contributing at least ₱1 billion each.

Among the top contributors were the Landbank of the Philippines, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Philippine Port Authority, the Manila International Airport Authority, the Clark Development Corporation, the Philippine National Oil Company, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Maharlika Investment Corporation, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and the Philippine Guarantee Corporation.