SUBSIDIES to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) surged in February from a year earlier, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Based on the agency's latest cash operations report, the two-month budgetary support of P12.715 billion was 35.3-percent higher than the year-ago P9.401 billion.

This marks the initial month that GOCCs received subsidies after having none in the previous month or in January.

Subsidies given to government financial institutions fell to P112 million from P144 million in the same month a year earlier but an improvement from zero in January.

The subsidies to major nonfinancial state firms, which comprised the bulk of the subsidies, surged to P9.781 billion in February from zero a month earlier and P7.498 a year earlier.

Subsidies to state-owned firms likewise rose to P2.822 billion in February from zero in January and P1.759 billion in February last year.

The National Irrigation Administration took the lion's share of the subsidies at P7.093 billion from P6.789 in February last year, followed by the National Food Authority at P2.250 billion from P637 million a year earlier.

At third was the Social Housing Finance Corp. with P667 million, from zero a year earlier and in January.

Rounding up the top five were the Philippine Heart Center (P303 million, up from zero in January and P294 million a year earlier) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (P284 million, up from zero a month and year earlier).

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