GOCCs gone wild BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 09/19/2010

GOCCs gone wild

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

09/19/2010
Malacañang and the Department of Finance (DoF) are now closely monitoring the performances of several government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) that are deemed to be lemons with the end of either reorganizing them to make operations more profitable or abolishing them altogether if they are proved to be basket cases with no hope of salvation.

This move dovetails with the drastic House Bill 2867 filed by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez that seeks to pull the plug on at least 36 of these non-performing government assets that had been exposed to be needlessly draining the resources of the government to the tune of several billions each year.

Rodriguez, who was joined by brother Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez in the filing of the measure, disclosed that the government had already forked out some P7.3 billion in subsidies to state-owned firms in H1 of 2010, or P2.25 billion more than the P5 billion for the same period last year, as per data from the DoF.

“In line with President Aquino’s call for austerity measures, it is high time that the excess fat is removed… so as to cap the yawning budget deficit that is expected to hit the P300-billion level by the yearend and increase investment to boost economic growth,” he said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100919com4.html