State firms remit P160.6B to national government

State corporations chipped in P160.6 billion in dividends and other remittances to the government, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Wednesday. In a statement, the DOF said the cumulative dividend remittances of 63 government-owned and -controlled corporations to the Bureau of the Treasury included P133.5 billion in cash from 55 GOCCs. Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said these year-to-date cash dividends were nearly double the P69.2 billion collected from the GOCC sector last year. Under Republic Act No. 7656 or the GOCC Dividend Law, state-run firms were mandated to declare and remit at least half of their incomes to the national government as dividends. —BEN O. DE VERA