Government subsidies to state-run firms plummeted by 27 percent to ₱45 billion in the first five months of the year from ₱57 billion in the same period the previous year.

This reduction comes as the Marcos administration in May continued to slash funding for major non-financial and financial government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that subsidies for major non-financial corporations shrank by 38.7 percent to ₱23.6 billion in January to May 2025, compared to ₱38.5 billion in the previous year. These firms accounted for more than half, or 52.4 percent, of the year-to-date subsidies.

Subsidies for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which accounted for 64.8 percent of the total support for major non-financial firms, fell sharply by 47.2 percent to ₱15.3 billion from ₱29 billion.

The NIA is primarily responsible for developing and managing irrigation systems to support the country’s agricultural sector.

From a nearly 20-percent decline at end-April, government subsidies for the National Housing Authority (NHA) slightly increased to ₱3.75 billion as of end-May from ₱3.74 billion a year ago.

Subsidies received by government financial institutions (GFIs) did not change from their level as of end-April at ₱509 million. This was 81.2 percent lower than last year’s ₱2.7 billion. Subsidies to GFIs accounted for 1.1 percent of the year-to-date total.

Meanwhile, other GOCCs, which accounted for 46.7 percent of the end-May subsidies, posted a 32.9-percent increase to ₱21 billion from ₱15.8 billion a year ago.

Unchanged from the four-month period, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) received ₱1.9 billion as of end-May. The government gave zero subsidy to the agency last year.

Also, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), which was not in the list last year, benefited from the ₱2.3 billion provided by the government during the period.

Notably, subsidies for the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) jumped by 129.4 percent to ₱1.7 billion from ₱741 million a year ago. Support to the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) climbed 31.6 percent to ₱1.1 billion from ₱836 million.

IIn May alone, GOCC subsidies declined by 18.6 percent to ₱7.9 billion from ₱9.7 billion in May 2024, still due to lower funding for major non-financial and financial state-owned firms.

It can be recalled that the Marcos administration’s subsidies to GOCCs last year were the lowest in six years.

GOCCs received a total of ₱138.8 billion in state subsidies from January to December 2024, a 15-percent drop compared to ₱163.5 billion in 2023. The 2024 full-year subsidy figure was the lowest since 2018’s ₱136.7 billion.

It was also significantly lower than the peak of over ₱229 billion in 2020—at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the national government provided wage subsidies to workers in severely affected small businesses and distributed cash aid to vulnerable sectors during the peak of the strictest lockdown to contain the deadly virus.

During the current Marcos administration, last year’s subsidies were the lowest annual support to GOCCs to date.