By Chino S. Leyco

The Department of Finance (DOF) expects dividends remitted by government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to reach an all-time high this year amid intensified efforts to collect more from state firms.

In a statement, Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia F. Cruz said they expect dividends from state corporations to reach P40 billion after collections as of the third quarter already hitting P34.15 billion.

According to the DOF Corporate Affairs Group (CAG), the end-September collections represent a 58 percent jump from the P21.62 billion in the same period last year, and has already surpassed the full-year collection of P30.46 billion in 2017.

“We have P34 billion now and we expect with the remittance of PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.) of P6 billion representing second installment on dividend in arrears, by December, dividend collection will hit P40 billion,” Cruz said in her report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.

A total of 55 GOCCs remitted to the Bureau of the Treasury as of September 2018.

Among the top dividend contributors were the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, with a total of P6.224 billion; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with P3.636 billion; Philippine Ports Authority with P3.103 billion; and PDIC with P2.844 billion.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. also remitted P2.593 billion; Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office with P2.535 billion; Manila International Airport Authority with P2.25 billion; and National Power Corp. with P1.410 billion.

Dominguez earlier attributed the significantly higher dividend remittances this year to the efficient monitoring of GOCCs by the DOF as well as by finance officials sitting on the boards of these state-run firms.

According to Dominguez, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) under the leadership of Secretary Arthur Tugade also helped ensure that GOCCs under the administrative supervision of the DOTr remitted their dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

GOCCs are required to declare and remit at least half of their income as dividends to the national government, under Republic Act No. 7656.

Dividends remitted by GOCCs have steadily increased under the Duterte administration.

In 2017, dividends remitted by GOCCs to the National Treasury represented a 9.8 percent increase from the previous year’s collections of P27.73 billion.

The 2017 dividend collections exceeded the P27.73 billion remittances in 2016 even if Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank)’s P6 billion remittance in 2017 was not included to allow the institution to recapitalize and better serve the increasing development needs of the country.

Had LandBank’s dividends been included, the total GOCC remittances would have reached P36.46 billion in 2017.

The dividend collections last year came from 54 GOCCs.