Iniulat ng Department of Finance (DOF) noong Lunes na nasa Php119.1 bilyon mula sa kabuuang Php157 bilyong cash dividends na ini-remit ng mga government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) noong 2020 ay inilaan para sa pondo ng Social Amelioration Program (SAP) na ipinatupad ng pamahalaan upang tulungan ang mga mahihirap na pamilya sa kasagsagan ng pandemya.
Ayon sa Corporate Affairs Group (CAG) ng DOF, ang Php156.97 bilyong dividends remittance na ito umano ay itinuturing na pinakamalaki mula noong implementasyon ng Republic Act (RA) No. 7656 o Dividends Law noong 1994.
“This is also more than twice of the P69.17 billion dividend collection in 2019, inclusive of the dividend foregone. Without dividends foregone, cash remittances is P135.08 billion in 2020, and P52.59 billion in 2019,” saad ni CAG head at Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko sa kaniyang ulat kay Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Ayon kay Tionko, ang top 10 dividend contributors na pinangungunahan ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) at Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) ay nakapag-remit ng 87 percent ng total dividends na nakolekta noong 2020.
“These GOCC dividends were primarily utilized for the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), which provided emergency assistance to low-income families to help tide them over during the strict lockdowns imposed earlier last year to curb the spread of COVID-19,” saad niya.