MANILA: From January to November, the Philippine government disbursed PHP153 billion in subsidies to various government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) released data indicating that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received the largest portion of these subsidies, amounting to PHP50.7 billion. The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) followed as the second largest recipient with PHP38.4 billion, and the National Housing Authority ranked third with subsidies totaling PHP17.8 billion.
According to Philippines News Agency, other top beneficiaries among GOCCs included the National Food Authority (NFA) receiving PHP9.7 billion; the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation with PHP5 billion; the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation at PHP4.6 billion; the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority with PHP3.3 billion; and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, which received PHP2.9 billion. In November alone, the subsidies to GOCCs increased to PHP6.7 billion, up from PHP6.1 billion in the same month of the previous year. During this month, the NIA was the largest beneficiary, receiving a subsidy of PHP2.5 billion, closely followed by the NFA which also received PHP2.5 billion.