The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) vowed to encourage firms in their respective countries to invest in the Philippines and support better public services for Filipino consumers as the group hailed the start of plenary debate on a bill amending the Public Services Act (PSA).
In a statement, JFC said amending the 85-year old Commonwealth Act (CA) 146 of 1936 will allow and encourage new investments from foreign firms in telecommunications, transportation, and other services.
The amendments propose to define public utilities and differentiate them from public services. Only “natural monopolies” involving distribution and transmission of electricity, water, and sewerage will be considered to be public utilities. As prescribed in the Philippine Constitution, public utilities must be 60 percent Filipino-owned, but the Constitution provides no definition of public utilities.
The group said the amendments are expected to increase competition, improve technology, modernize and lower the prices of services to the benefit of Filipino consumers.
The PSA amendments bill will allow even more capital to be invested in the country and improve infrastructure services at no cost to the government and taxpayer.
The JFC said this reform will also improve the international ranking of the Philippines by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development from its current unattractive placement as one of the most restrictive economies in the world for foreign investment in public services.
The PSA amendments, the group added, will match policies that Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam already allow and that Indonesia last year opened to foreign investment. It also complies with commitments the Philippines made in the Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement to open investment in services to other Asean members, effective in 2012.
The bill contains provisions to protect against foreign government-owned and influenced firms controlling Philippine public services by adopting national security review practices followed by major governments, including Australia, Japan, and the United States, in reviewing and approving major new foreign investments.
JFC said the Philippines will benefit when local and foreign firms compete side-by-side in providing better public services.
JFC encouraged Congress to complete passage of this important legislation at the earliest possible time. The House approved its version of the bill on March 10, 2020 while deliberations on Senate Bill 2094 are ongoing. – Irma Isip
