THE Department of Finance (DoF) said non-performing government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) could be abolished to free up public resources.
“As a matter of principle, GOCCs that can no longer effectively fulfill their mandate or unnecessarily drain public resources should be abolished, or their functions absorbed by another GOCC or government agency,” Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said in a statement over the weekend.
“This can free up public resources for programs and services that better serve the people,” he added.
In a radio interview on Saturday, Mr. Go said around 10% of GOCCs could be abolished.
“We have over 100 GOCCs, siguro masasabi ko 10% sa kanila ay dapat isara na at nasa proseso na sila ng pagsasara (I can say maybe 10% should be shut or be in the process to be shut),” he said.
“Siyempre sa gobyerno, may prosesong dapat sundan, so medyo mabagal (In government, we need to follow a process, so things will be slow),” he added.
State-owned firms receive monthly subsidies from the National Government to support their daily operations if their revenue is insufficient.
In June, subsidies extended to GOCCs more than doubled to P16.56 billion from the same month a year earlier.
Despite this, Mr. Go said GOCC dividend remittances have reached record levels under the Marcos administration.
“We collected a total of P147 billion in dividends from government financial institutions and GOCCs,” he said.
“We have collected a total of $501 billion in the first four years (of the administration),” he said.
He said this was significantly higher than the P84 billion in remittances collected during the Arroyo administration, P164 billion during the Aquino administration, and P382 billion under the Duterte administration.
The Marcos administration’s dividend collections averaged P125.36 billion a year.
Meanwhile, Mr. Go said that the government is looking to accelerate infrastructure spending in the second half of the year to spur economic growth.
“Since the State of the Nation Address of the president last year, growth has slowed, primarily due to reduced public spending, and we are addressing that now,” he said.
“We are going to make sure that in the second half of this year, the public spending, particularly on infrastructure, will be restored,” he added.
The economy expanded by only 2.3% in the second quarter as elevated inflation dampened household consumption while a steep decline in public construction dragged investment.
The latest reading lagged the 5.4% posted a year earlier and the 2.8% expansion in the first quarter, bringing first-half growth to 2.6%, below the government’s revised 3.5%-4.5% target for 2026.
Public construction plunged 32.4% in the second quarter as infrastructure agencies remained cautious following the flood control corruption scandal last year.
Mr. Go said gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 5.8% in the first four years of the Marcos administration, outpacing average global GDP growth of 2.5% to 3%.
He said average growth was slower in the last three years.
“But magandang result na po ’yan (That’s actually a good result). And we believe that the country, starting 2027, will resume that path. We will continue to grow again at 5% to 6% for 2027 and 2028,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
