LIST OF PANELS

State-owned enterprises (SOE), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) [or generally known as public enterprises] are created by governments as instruments to support and help attain national development goals, deliver public goods and services, and/or address market failures arising from lack of private investment or effective market competition in critical industries of the economy. In the Philippines, from 14 SOEs in the 1930s, the number dramatically increased to more than 300 in the 1980s. Experience indicates that (SOEs) have become “major arenas for the consolidation of economic and political power” (Dytianquin, 1985) and used as “laundry services and tools to transfer public resources to the hands of cronies and the private few” (Briones, 1985). Privatization, or the “transfer of ownership, management, responsibility, functions, and resources for supplying goods and services from public organizations to private hands” (Villamejor-Mendoza, 2003), became a defining feature of public sector reforms. However, the presence of a conflicted/captured regulator and vested interests in many SOEs has made liberalization, deregulation, and privatization a difficult and daunting task. This has also preserved the status quo (Basilio, 2018). While public enterprise reforms in the last decade have produced some tangible results – i.e., a substantial reduction in the number of SOEs to around 120, ‘fit and proper’ rule requirements in the appointment of directors to the SOE boards, adoption of ‘balanced-scorecards’ to measure performance, and the creation of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) that oversees public enterprise activities among others – improving regulatory quality among public enterprises has been slow because they “face unique governance challenges that make reform more difficult compared to the private sector” (Villamejor-Mendoza, 2007).

This panel will discuss the regulatory challenges among public enterprises that are (a) redundant, (b) imbued with conflicting regulatory and commercial mandates,  (c) non-performing and highly subsidized by the national government, (d) suspected of being riddled with corruption; (e) in industries that adequately are served by the private sector, and (f) must continue and be strengthened. Moreover, an assessment of the performance of the GCG will likewise be discussed to shed light on the status and future of public enterprise governance in the Philippines. Among the papers to be presented are the following: "The Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG): Challenges and Prospects in the Future of Philippine Corporate Governance and Regulation" by Dr. Maria Fe Mendoza; "The Governmental/Regulatory and Proprietary Divide:  Issues, Options and Ways Forward for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR)" by Dr. Maria Fe Mendoza; "Exploring the impact of government subsidy on the financial and socio-economic performance of heavily-subsidized government corporations" by Dr. Jocelyn Cuaresma; "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Government Corporations: The Case of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PhilCOA)" by Dr. Eva Baylon; "‘Conflicted”’ Public Enterprise-Regulatory Agencies in the Philippines" by Dr. Enrico Basilio; and "The National Food Authority: The Rice and Fall of a Public Enterprise" by Juve Lizette Gervacio. The policy implications and reforms in these areas will be integrated into all the papers will also be presented in the panel.