GOCCs remit P157 billion dividends

MANILA, Philippines — State-owned firms remitted P156.97 billion in dividends to the government last year, the bulk of which was used to fund cash aid programs for vulnerable sectors affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

According to the DOF’s Corporate Affairs Group (CAG), 57 government- owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs) remitted dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury last year, combining for the largest amount ever collected since the implementation of Republic Act 7656 or the Dividends Law in 1994.

“This is also more than twice of the P69.17 billion dividend collection in 2019, inclusive of the dividend foregone. Without dividends foregone, cash remittances are P135.08 billion in 2020, and P52.59 billion in 2019,” Finance Undersecretary and CAG head Antonette Tionko said.

Tionko said P119.1 billion or 75.9 percent of the GOCCs’ dividend remittances in 2020 were allocated as unprogrammed revenues, which benefited the government’s COVID-19 response efforts.

“These GOCC dividends were primarily utilized for the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), which provided emergency assistance to low-income families to help tide them over during the strict lockdowns imposed earlier last year to curb the spread of COVID-19,” Tionko said.

She said the top 10 contributors remitted 87 percent of the total dividends collected in 2020. These were led by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with P40.53 billion in remittances, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) with P17.98 billion.

This year, Tionko said the CAG would continue to instill fiscal discipline among GOCCs, especially those with existing arrears, to ensure their compliance with the Dividends Law and its implementing rules and regulations.

She said the CAG was able to sign an agreement with the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) last year for the transfer of the web-based GOCC Debt Recording and Monitoring System (GDRAMS) to the DOF.

The system aims to streamline the data reporting process and facilitate the timely encoding and submission of debt reports from state-run firms.

“GDRAMS will help in the analysis of GOCC debt and better manage the government’s financial exposure and strategy formulation,” Tionko said.