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Gatchalian defends GCG budget: Sen. Win Gatchalian urges his colleagues to support the approval of the proposed 2021 budget of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) amounting to P184 million. In defending the GCG budget, Gatchalian noted that prior to the creation of the commission, only an average of 24 government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) paid an average of P7.51 billion in dividends from 2004 to 2011. But upon the creation of the GCG, an average of 45 GOCCs paid an average of P28 billion from 2012 to 2019 to the government representing an increase of 88 percent. He said the proposed budget would enable the commission to continuously fulfill its mandate of promoting financial viability and fiscal discipline among GOCCs. “While we know that there’s a lot of room for improvement, we recognize the role of the GCG in institutionalizing fiscal discipline among GOCCs to stop the drain in government finances and contribute to government coffers,” Gatchalian said during the hybrid plenary deliberation on the GCG budget which was deemed submitted Thursday, November 19, 2020. GCG is the central policy-making and regulatory body mandated to safeguard the state’s ownership rights and ensure that the operations of GOCCs are transparent and responsive to the needs of the public.(Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB)