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Excess VAT collections, GOCC dividends to fund more subsidies

By Joann Villanueva

March 23, 2022, 8:30 pm

MANILA – Excess value added tax (VAT) collections, boosted by oil price upticks, and dividends from government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) will be used for the additional PHP500 subsidy for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries. 
 
During the Laging Handa public briefing aired over the state-owned PTV-4 on Wednesday, Department of Budget and Management acting Secretary Tina Rose Canda said around 13 million beneficiaries will benefit from the additional subsidy, which will cost the government an estimated PHP20 billion just for three months.
 
Ang excess revenues naman na ito ay manggagaling either sa dividends ng mga government corporations or doon sa excess VAT collections as a result noong pagtaas natin ng value ng petrolyo. So sa halip na pakinabangan iyan ng gobyerno, kumbaga ibabalik sa taumbayan – iyong pinakamahirap nating taumbayan, iyong ayuda na ito (The excess revenues will come either from the government corporations’ dividends or from excess VAT collections due mainly of oil price increases. So, instead of the government benefiting from it we will return it to the people –the poorest of them– as a subsidy),” she said.
 
Canda said the government has no other excess source of funds for the additional 4Ps subsidy for now aside from the excess VAT and GOCCs’ dividends because the government has doubled its PHP2.5 billion subsidies for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and by PHP600 million the subsidies for the agriculture sector. 
 
Excess revenues lang ang inaasahan natin dito, sir, kasi iyong mga regular nating mga collection ay para din sa mga ongoing na proyekto, mga existing na programa ng gobyerno (We can only source the funds from excess revenues, sir, because our regular collections are for ongoing projects, the existing programs of the government),” she added.
 
Canda said the additional subsidy for PUV drivers and the agriculture sector will be released to the Department of Social Welfare and Development by April since the Bureau of the Treasury is expected to release a certification by end-March. (PNA)
 

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