Government subsidies to state-run firms shrank to ₱70.3 billion in the first eight months of the year, compared to ₱87 billion in the same period last year, as the Marcos administration scaled back funding for major non-financial and financial government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the 19.3-percent decline in subsidies was driven by a massive reduction in funding support for major state-owned non-financial and financial corporations.

Subsidies for major non-financial corporations declined by 35.3 percent to ₱38.4 billion as of end-August, compared to ₱59.4 billion in the previous year. They made up 54.6 percent of the year-to-date subsidies.

Subsidies for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which received the largest support among major non-financial firms, fell sharply by 49.8 percent to ₱24.5 billion from ₱48.9 billion. The NIA is primarily responsible for developing and managing irrigation systems to support the country’s agricultural sector.

Notably, government subsidies for the National Housing Authority (NHA) plunged by 64.6 percent to ₱1.3 billion from ₱3.8 billion a year earlier. Similarly, support for the National Electrification Administration (NEA) declined by 30.4 percent to ₱1.5 billion from ₱2.1 billion a year ago.

This downward trend for some major non-financial GOCCs could not be offset even by a nearly threefold increase in subsidies for the National Food Authority (NFA) to ₱8.8 billion from ₱2.3 billion a year ago.

At end-August, government financial institutions (GFIs) only received ₱509 million, marking a massive 89.4 percent drop from ₱4.79 billion last year. Subsidies to GFIs accounted for less than one percent of the eight-month total.

Meanwhile, other GOCCs, which accounted for 44.5 percent of the end-August subsidies, increased by 37.2 percent to ₱31.3 billion from ₱22.8 billion a year ago.

Notably, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) and Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), which both received zero subsidies in 2024, were given ₱4.3 billion and ₱4.4 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, government support for the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) was downsized by 13 percent to ₱1.9 billion from ₱2.2 billion in 2024.

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.

For 2026, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which received zero subsidies this year, is proposed to have the highest allocation under the ₱6.793-trillion national budget.