The Department of Finance (DOF) would recommend to Congress the abolition of non-performing government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) that are hurting state coffers.

Reacting to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stating that the Philippines has failed to address the problem of non-performing GOCCs, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said they are, in fact, addressing the issue.

“It is generally true that we need to be more vigilant, we need to come up with key result areas and find ways to streamline operations. There might be decisions later as to whether these corporations would have to go,” Teves said.

The ADB said the operations of some GOCCs have resulted to losses for the government.

The DoF chief said the department would have to look at the viability of all GOCCs to allow them to operate.

“If they cannot survive, the next step is to deactivate them, go to Congress, and recommend [their abolition],” Teves said.

However, he noted that only Congress can abolish GOCCs since these are created by laws.

“I don’t know how Congress will decide. Its beyond our control…But we can recommend. We have to analyze this carefully whether this will cause permanent bleeding on the government or whether the private sector can do [its functions],” he said.

In its report, the ADB criticized the Philippines for failing to abolish the GOCCs that are bleeding state coffers dry. The multilateral lender said this is happening because of weak institutional and regulatory frameworks.

Subsidies disbursed by the National Government to GOCCs totaled P2.23 billion in the first quarter, higher than the P2.071 billion released in the same period last year.

For her part, Soledad Emilia J. Cruz, director of the DoF’s corporate operations, said they would conduct seminars and trainings to improve the performance of GOCCs.

“We will also revitalize performance evaluation system where performance will be measured based on targets and specific criteria. But we will have to work on its framework,” she said.