GOCCs remit 45% more dividends

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 46 state-run corporations remitted P38.9 billion in dividends to the National Treasury as of mid-May, according to the Department of Finance.

The DOF, citing a report made by Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko, said dividend collections from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) from Jan. 1 to May 16 jumped by 45 percent to P38.9 billion from the P26.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The DOF said that this figure is only three percent short of the P40.17 billion dividends remitted by state firms for full year 2018.

GOCCs are required to declare and remit at least half of their income as dividends to the national government under Republic Act 7656 or the GOCC Dividend Law.

According to Tionko, a total of 46 GOCCs contributed to the national government’s dividend collections as of May 16.

Tionko said the highest dividend contributor was the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) with P16.17 billion in remittances, followed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) with P4.58 billion, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with P4 billion.

Other top contributors include the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) with P3.51 billion, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) with P3.42 billion, National Power Corp. with P842 million, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) with  P815 million, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) with P744 billion, PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) with P699 million, and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) with P650 million.

Given the robust growth in dividends in the first five months, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said dividend collections for the whole of 2019 is expected to surpass the previous year’s figures, setting a new record for the government.

In 2018, GOCCs remitted P40.17 billion in dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), 32 percent higher than the P30.46 billion recorded in the previous year.

The DOF said this was thehighest amount of dividends ever collected since the enactment of the GOCC Dividend Law in 1994.

Computing contributions from July 2016 to May 2019, the DOF said the total cash dividend collections under the Duterte administration now amounts to P109.8 billion.