Philippine Competition Act signed into law

President Benigno S. Aquino III has signed into law the Republic Act No. 10667, also known as the Philippine Competition Act.

The Philippine Competition Act will make sure that no business entity would have an unfair advantage over its competitors so that consumers would enjoy the benefits of a free market. The law is also expected to improve the state of the internet in the country by encouraging the entry of new players.

“Businesses, whether big or small, will now be on equal footing as the law penalizes anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant players,” said Senator Bam Aquino, co-author and principal sponsor of the measure.

Under the new law, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) will be established and will consist of a chairperson, four commissioners and an executive director. The PCC will look into anti-competitive behaviors, abuses in dominant positions, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.

The independent quasi-judicial body can also impose administrative penalties of a maximum fine of P100 million on the first offense and P250 million for the second offense for anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant position. An imprisonment from two to seven years can also be imposed to responsible officers and directors of the entity.

In addition to the Philippine Competition Act, the President has also signed the Foreign Ships Co-Loading Act which will reduce logistics costs for producers, create a more efficient import and export system, and lead to lower prices for consumers.

source: BamAquino.com

19 Comments

is says:

9 years ago

What I’m seeing is just another group of people that megacorporations will have to bribe to get their way.
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reireirei says:

9 years ago

Wow, ambilis ah… Aquino-Aquino yan eh hahaha.
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leypascua says:

9 years ago

RA10667 will not solve the Internet speed problem because new players will still have to dig for their own pipes. We need a new law forcing legacy telcos to open up their pipes and allow new players to be hosted within their data centers for a reasonable and competitive fee.
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masterpogi says:

9 years ago

@anon. i think there is a network within the country. it is done by the DOST and i think the project is called PREGINET Pilipinas.
anonymous says:

9 years ago

What we need is for the government to dig pipes for the country. Instead of spending millions or billions paying telcos to provide ‘free wifi’ for all, spend the money on laying down a network within the country that can be used by EVERYONE. we’ll get to have reliable connections locally (for locally hosted contents) and foreign companies won’t need to worry about laying down lines within the country.

Krabb says:

9 years ago

Is there anything in this bill about foreign ownership or otherwise explicitly allows foreign telcos to be on the same footing as the local telcos?

If not, things like Google Fiber would still be a dream, and things probably won’t change much.
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Hentai Kamen says:

9 years ago

Yes!
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Name says:

9 years ago

again, useless if not implemented.
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Buster says:

9 years ago

at least we made the first step

wako says:

9 years ago

kaya pala biglang bumilis yung speed ng net ko. hahahah XD
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dvancleef says:

9 years ago

Without removing the min 60% Filipino ownership requirement, there’s going to be nothing new happening in the telco industry.
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Alligator Kap says:

9 years ago

Hope foreign telcos with better service would take notice. Because this country deserves fast and affordable internet. The current players are just so lame and greedy.
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Xxx says:

9 years ago

Omg! As in omg wow ang galing! Haha paktay ka ngaun Globe and Smart may makakalaban na kau! Wait wait lang kau
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Freeje says:

9 years ago

Don’t know much about the Foreign Ships Co-loading Act but will it reduce corruption at the ports?
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hotruss says:

9 years ago

CABOTAGE… Sounds funny to me, like sabotage by cabbage.
shipper says:

9 years ago

@Mr A, not exactly the way you describe it but close. under the old cabotage law, only domestic feeders like 2go, Oceanic, Lorenzo, NMC to name a few are the ones who can cater domestic routes for import transshipments or LOCAL cargoes. international carriers like Maersk/MCC CMACGM/CNC , Evergreen to name a few has also services to various local destination like Cebu, Davao etc but cannot cater directly to local cargoes like example, a textile factory in Manila will send some textile to davao, although CMACGM/CNC has a service from Manila – Davao they cannot carry it using their own containers and loading it under their own vessel as restriction to the old cabotage law, only 2go , oceanic etc can accomodate it using their containers and their vessels. it is very costly for local merchants as the cost of domestic feeder are way high compare to international shipping lines. some merchants resorted to shipping their goods to davao loading it to international shipping lines transhipped to Kaohsiung to davao which is more cost effective compare to using local feeders that will charge higher in expense of a better transit times.under the new law now international shipping lines can compete to local domestic feeders. which is a good thing cost effective plus security wise as domestic containers and vessels is way older compare to international shipping lines some of them more than 20 yrs in service vs newly built containers and vessel of international shipping lines.
abe says:

9 years ago

Ibig sabihin, mababawasan yung koleksyon ng customs/port officials sa manila/batangas at mapupunta sa iba. Still would help decongest ports though.
Mr A says:

9 years ago

It allows foreign vessels to dock at more ports instead of a designated port. Like if the ship goods will be delivered in Davao, it doesn’t have to go to Manila and be shipped to Davao. Something along those lines.