GOCCs failed to remit P50 billion in dividends last year, says COA

The national government has nearly P50 billion in collectibles from government-owned or controlled corporations, a Commission on Audit (COA) report revealed.

Based on a 2010 report, GOCCs failed to remit some P49.611 billion in dividends, as

provided by Republic Act 7656' (t)hus depriving the NG of available financial resources needed to fund its programs.”

Section 3 of RA 7656 requires all state firms to declare and remit at least 50 percent of their annual net earnings as cash, stock or property dividend to the government.

The non-remitters included 38 GOCCs with cash releases of P20.543 billion and three with equity releases of P2.150 billion,, according to the report, which however failed to name the firms. 

For the 41 GOCCs that were given subsidies/equities in 2010, only five of them paid dividends of P67.094 million or only 0.56 percent of the total P8.867 billion in dividends due from these firms for 2009, for a balance of P8.799 billion.

“On the overall, we computed the dividends due the NG at approximately P26.436 billion from the 78 GOCCs with net income in the audited Statements of Income and Expenses [SIEs] for year 2009 as published in the COA Web as at audit date,” the state auditor reported.

“Of this amount and reflected in the reported dividend income, only P12.013 billion, inclusive of the P987.8 million for 2008, was paid, leaving approximately P15.410 billion of dividends uncollected for 2009 alone,” the Commission said 

Therefore, “the consolidated balances of dividends due from GOCCs, as reported in the last two Consolidated Annual Audit Reports, with the balance of dividends payable for 2009, totaled P49.611 billion,” COA said.

In line with its continuing efforts to rationalize GOCCs, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima had said the Aquino administration is undertaking a re-classification of state firms and a review of their corresponding assets to determine which may be ripe for privatization.

The objective would be to sift those state assets that can be commercialized and privatized from those that would remain under state ownership, and continue to receive monetary support from the government.

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