The national government’s subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) as of end-August declined by 33.73 percent versus the previous year’s level.
Data posted by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on its website showed that subsidies to state-run firms in the first eight months of the year amounted to P90.6 billion, down from the P136.72 billion recorded a year ago.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) accounted for bulk of the amount with P33.69 billion released to the agency as of end-August.
Other top recipients are the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with P26.75 billion, National Housing Authority with P8.94 billion, National Food Authority with P3.6 billion and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority with P2.17 billion.
In August alone, subsidy releases to GOCCs totaled to P15.54 billion, 63.32 percent down from the year ago level of P42.35 billion.
PhilHealth received the biggest amount with P11.23 billion.
The only remaining billionaire recipient in August is NIA with P2.54 billion. – Angela Celis
