Subsidies to GOCCs up 21% to P80.4B in 2014

FUNDS for the construction and upkeep of the country’s health infrastructure, as well as for the housing requirements of millions of Filipinos, accounted for the bulk of subsidy money spent on the sectors, data from the Department of Finance (DOF) show. Total government subsidies extended by the national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) surged by 21 percent in 2014. Data from the DOF show total subsidies in 2014 amounting to P80.44 billion. This was P14.11 billion higher than subsidies granted in 2013 totaling only P66.33 billion and an increased from the past three years as the subsidies spent in 2012 amounted only to P42.64 billion. The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. remained the biggest recipient, getting a total of P35.33 billion in 2014, followed by the National Housing Authority, which received P19.06 billion in subsidies. The Philippines has a rather grave housing backlog, the deficiency of which has ballooned over the past 10 years from some 2 million units to more or less 5.5 million, based on private-sector estimates. The other GOCCs, which received at least a billion in government subsidies, are National Electrification Administration (P5.65 billion); National Food Authority (P4.25 billion); Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (P2.79 billion); Philippine Coconut Authority (P1.97 billion); Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (P1.15 billion); and National Irrigation Administration (P1.07 billion). Some of the other GOCCs, which received big subsidies from the national government, include Philippine Postal Corp. (P968 million); National Power Corp. (P960 million); People’s Credit and Finance Corp. (P900 million); Social Housing Finance Corp. (P799 million); Social Security System (P772 million); Philippine Rice Research Institute (P547 million); National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (P500 million); Tourism Promotions Board (P500 million); Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P365 million); and Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P348 million).//