The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is focusing its monitoring to electronic commerce, health and pharmaceuticals, insurance, logistics and shipping, energy and electricity, water supply and distribution, real estate, and food– priority and essential sectors that have become even more relevant due to the ongoing pandemic.
“… We can do more market studies for the(se) sectors so we can understand the competition concerns in those sectors,” said Arsenio Balisacan, PCC chairman at a virtual forum on “Enhancing Competition for Competitiveness and Economic Recovery” on Friday.
Balisacan said these sectors “hold strategic value” to the public.
“We identify these sectors based on a careful and strategic assessment of their impact on consumers, the probability of enforcement success, and legislative priorities,” he said.
Balisacan this is particularly crucial given the recovering economy due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic whose “risks of competition issues are likely to heighten via different channels.”
Balisacan said PCC is set to review some merger transactions that happened in the past year to establish whether or not these deals could lead to anti-competitive behavior.
“Evidence shows relaxing merger review rules in the context where market concentration… is a big concern… It could be detrimental to our long-term development and even economic recovery,” he added.
Balisacan said the agency’s Merger and Acquisition Office has been monitoring the market the past year since Bayanihan 2 to Heal as One Act in September 2020 exempted from compulsory notification mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with transaction values below P50 billion if entered into within two years from the effectivity of the law. it suspends PCC’s exercise of motu proprio review of these transactions for one year.
The suspension is lifted on September 21.
“We are not starting from scratch… once we get to that time (we get the) motu proprio power again to review some merger transactions,” said Balisacan.
Balisacan said the number of M&A transactions was greatly reduced because of the stiff notification threshold imposed by Bayanihan 2.
“Hopefully Congress will not extend the prohibition or suspension of motu proprio review power of the commission,” he added. – with Irma Isip
