FILIPINO taxpayers spent P126.39 billion in subsidies for various government institutions, including government corporations, in the January-to-October period this year, according to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr).
BTr data showed the subsidies extended to public agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) are already 96.41 percent of the total subsidies extended by the national government in 2017 worth P131.09 billion.
In October, total subsidies reached P1.55 billion, which is a 92.08-percent decline from September’s P19.58 billion. Subsidies extended in September were the second highest for 2018.
The highest subsidy level granted by the national government in 2018 was in March at P35.24 billion, followed by July at P32.47 billion.
The lowest subsidy granted for the year was in January at only P922 million.
In October, the public institution that received the highest subsidies were the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) at P5.3 billion, followed by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) at P4.95 billion and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) at P4.83 billion.
Those that received the least subsidies were the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (ZCSeza) and the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) at P4 million each followed by the Philippine News Agency People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) at P7 million.
At least 22 public institutions that did not receive any subsidies in October. These included the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), Philippine National Railways (PNR), National Power Corp., National Food Authority (NFA), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Social Security System (SSS).
In the January-to-October period, the government extended the most subsidies to PhilHealth at P50.19 billion, followed by NIA at P26.27 billion and LandBank at P24.58 billion.
Data also showed public institutions that received the least subsidies this year were the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority at P6 million, which it received in June; and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority at P10 million composed of a P7-million subsidy it received in October and P3 million in April.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza