Higher GOCC remittances to help reduce debt – Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — Higher remittances from government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) will help cut the country’s borrowings and avoid the imposition of higher taxes, President Marcos said yesterday.

Speaking at the 2024 GOCC Day in Pasay City, Marcos expressed confidence that GOCCs would surpass their P100-billion remittances to the government last year.

As of May 6, the government has collected P88.6 billion from 47 GOCCs, Marcos noted.

“Your remittances will not only allow our economy to recover, but it would help cut our borrowings and lessen the pressure to inflict higher taxes on the people,” Marcos said in his speech at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The total dividend collections from 52 GOCCs amounted to P100.74 billion in 2023, which is 47 percent higher than the P68.34-billion collections in 2022.

The top 10 contributing GOCCs are the Land Bank of the Philippines (P32.12 billion), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (P10.68 billion), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (P9.2 billion), Philippine Ports Authority (P5.06 billion), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (P4.60 billion), Manila International Airport Authority (P3.45 billion), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (P3.07 billion), Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (P2.7 billion), Philippine National Oil Co. (P2.64 billion) and the National Transmission Corp. (P2.16 billion).

Money collected from the GOCCs would be invested back into growth-inducing activities that create jobs and harness opportunities, Marcos said.

“In the end, these dividends will yield more dividends, unleashing a virtuous cycle that lifts up those we serve to a higher standard of living,” he said.

“Our call for higher earnings is a call for efficiency, and this goes especially to the agencies that deal directly with the people,” he added.

Marcos assured GOCCs that dividends to be provided to the Filipino people would “not be taken as a license to hike the fees they pay.”

In March, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said there would be no new taxes during the remaining years of the Marcos administration.

Recto said the government would focus on improving tax collection efficiency first.

Recto is hoping there will be no triggers that would force the Department of Finance to propose new tax measures.

The Marcos administration slashed its borrowings by 45 percent to P203 billion at the start of the year in the absence of new global bond offerings.