Despite a bulk of subsidies provided to the National Food Authority (NFA) in the second quarter, the total financial support received by government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) still declined in the first six months of 2025.

Government subsidies to state-run firms declined by 22 percent to ₱52.5 billion in January to June from ₱67.2 billion in the same period last year. This follows the Marcos administration’s continued cuts in June to funding for major non-financial and financial GOCCs.

The NFA, which received zero subsidies in the second quarter of 2024, was granted ₱4.9 billion in the same period this year, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). Its first-semester subsidies of ₱7.2 billion were 213 percent higher than last year’s ₱2.3 billion.

It can be recalled that the Marcos administration rolled out the subsidized ₱20-per-kilo rice in the second quarter.

Of the ₱29.7 billion total subsidies for major non-financial GOCCs, the subsidies received by the NFA only accounted for a quarter.

Overall, subsidies for major non-financial GOCCs dropped by 36.3 percent from ₱46.6 billion in the first semester last year. These firms accounted for more than half, or 56.6 percent, of the year-to-date subsidies.

Notably, subsidies for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which accounted for 59.6 percent of the total support for major non-financial firms, fell sharply by 51.5 percent to ₱17.7 billion from ₱36.5 billion.

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

Government support for the National Housing Authority (NHA) massively dropped by 64.9 percent to ₱1.3 billion from ₱3.7 billion a year ago.

Government financial institutions (GFIs) in the first half remained at the level of the end-April's ₱509 million. This was 81.8 percent lower than last year’s ₱2.8 billion. Subsidies to GFIs accounted for one percent of the six-month total.

Meanwhile, other GOCCs, which accounted for 42.5 percent of the end-June subsidies, posted a 24.6-percent increase to ₱22.3 billion from ₱17.9 billion a year ago.

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

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation received ₱8 billion during the period, the same amount of subsidies it received from last year.

Notably, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) saw its funding surge by 155.6 percent to ₱2.3 billion this year from ₱900 million a year ago. Similarly, the ₱1-billion subsidies for the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) doubled this year to ₱2 billion.

Support to the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) climbed 33.3 percent to ₱1.3 billion from ₱975 million.

In June alone, GOCC subsidies dropped by 27.5 percent to ₱7.4 billion from ₱10.2 billion in June last year, 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