PCC reviewing overall competition landscape

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/02/04/1668760/pcc-reviewing-overall-competition-landscape MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is completing a review of the country’s overall competition landscape to ensure industries and businesses do not fall victim to anti-competitive behaviors. Under the National Competition Policy Review, the PCC is seeking to identify the various anti-competitive practices in different sectors of the economy, as well as government regulations, policies, and administrative issuances that may constrain market competition. The review will come up with measures and recommendations to rid the country of market structures that prevents healthy competition from flourishing. The country’s anti-trust body aims to complete the review within this quarter. “Fostering competition will benefit the consumers and make the domestic economy more efficient and productive. Among the remedies identified so far include the lifting of restrictions on foreign participation in certain industries,” the PCC said. The PCC was created in February last year as provided for under Republic Act 10667, otherwise known as the Philippine Competition Act which was passed in July 2015. “Despite the commission’s relative infancy, we are proud to say that the commission has gained much ground in carrying out the mandate of the Philippine Competition Act or PCA, which has truly been a game-changer in the country’s business environment,” PCC chair Arsenio Balisacan said. Part of its mandate is to review mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that may impede competition to the detriment of the consumers. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno also stressed the importance of fair competition and a level playing field in the country. “We all know that competition triggers efficiency and innovation. By fostering market competition, the government helps ordinary people afford necessities like rice, electricityand medicine. It helps consumers to enjoy goods and services with lower prices and better quality,” Diokno said. “At the same time, entrepreneurs are more capable of starting up their own firms.  With a more level playing field, as a result of competition, economic opportunities are made more accessible to all. In effect, we hit two birds with one stone: competition policy doubles as a poverty-reduction tool that improves the ease of doing business,” he added.