MANILA, Philippines – Unnecessary and non-performing government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) are either under review or already abolished, the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) said in response to a new House bill seeking to abolish 19 GOCCs.

In a statement released on Monday, March 3, GCG said President Benigno Aquino III “already approved the abolition of 5 of the 19 GOCCs proposed for abolition in House Bill 3807 by Representatives Rufus Rodriguez and Maximo Rodriguez.”

The 5 include:

1. National Agribusiness Corp. (NABCOR)
2. Zamboanga del Norte Rubber Estate Corp. (ZREC)
3. Human Settlements Dev’t. Corp. (HSDC) 
4. Philippine Forest Corp. (PFC)
5. Cottage Industry Technology Center (CITC)

Another 7 of the 19 of the GOCCs included in the bill have already been recommended by GCG to either be abolished or privatized, namely:

1. Marawi Resort Hotel Inc. (MRHI)
2. Philippine Aerospace Dev’t Corp. (PADC) 
3. NDC-Philippine Infrastructure Corporation, Batangas Land Co.
4. Kamayan Realty Corp.
5. GY Real Estate, Inc.
6. Pinagkaisa Realty Corp.
7. Technology Resources Center (TRC) (covered by Bayan Muna recommendation)

All but one the other 7 on the bill’s list, said GCG, are part of its “regular sector-wide evaluation of GOCCs based on financial viability and relevance to current national development plans.”

These are:

1. Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel
2. BCDA Management and Holdings, Inc.
3. Masaganang Sakahan, Inc.
4. Northern Foods Corp.
5. Tourism Promotions Board (referred to as Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp.) 
6. Trade and Investment Development Corp. (known as PhilEXIM)

Only one company on the list has not been acted upon by GCG, because it said it is outside GCG’s jurisdiction: the Freeport Services Corporation, which is under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez and his brother Maximo of Abante Mindanao party list filed the bill seeking to abolish unnecessary or underperforming GOCCs. They said the 19 GOCCs they cited are still paid for by taxpayers’ money that could be used for better purposes.

Less than 100

The GCG is an oversight and policymaking body in charge of GOCCs, created in October 2011 following controversies over hefty bonuses received by GOCC officials in the past administration.

Of the 5 abolished GOCCs, 3 were among those linked to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) controversy uncovered by the Commission on Audit (COA) or the pork barrel scam,namely Nabcor, ZREC and PFC. In question are fund releases under the Arroyo administration from 2007 to 2009.

Two others included in the bill – TRC and NLDC – were also tagged in the scam. The GCG has recommended the faster review of both. 

The GCG said it is monitoring 116 GOCCs, and aims to reduce the number of GOCCs to “less than 100 by the end of 2014 through abolition, privatization or merger.”

It also gave assurances it will be granting separation pay to affected employees.

“Affected employees are given separation pay amounting to around one month’s salary for every year of service, unless an administrative or criminal case is failed against them,” the statement said.

Aside from the 19 mentioned in the bill, the GCG said Aquino has also approved abolishing 6 other GOCCs, while 5 others have been recommended for abolition or privatization. Another 14 are dissolved by expiration of corporate term, rendered non-operational or liquidated under the directions of the Governance Commission. – Rappler.com