Philippine Competition Act
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Philippine Competition Act
Republic Act No. 10667
July 21, 2015
Case Overview and Summary
Summary of the Philippine Competition ActDeclaration of Policy (Section 2)
- Promote market competition as mechanism for allocating goods and services
- Safeguard competitive conditions in key economic sectors
- Provide equal opportunities to promote entrepreneurship and private investments
- Prohibit monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade when against public interest
Scope and Application (Section 3)
- Enforceable against entities engaged in trade, industry and commerce in the Philippines
- Applies to international trade with effects in the Philippines
- Excludes combinations or activities of workers for collective bargaining
Definitions (Section 4)
- Defines key terms like acquisition, agreement, conduct, confidential business information, control, dominant position, entity, market, merger, relevant market
Philippine Competition Commission (Sections 5-13)
- Establishes the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) as an independent quasi-judicial body
- Outlines composition, qualifications, term of office, and prohibitions for Commissioners
- Grants PCC powers to conduct inquiries, review mergers, impose penalties, issue orders, and formulate competition policy
- Establishes confidentiality rules for business information (Section 34)
Prohibited Acts (Sections 14-15)
- Prohibits anti-competitive agreements among competitors, including price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation (Section 14)
- Prohibits abuse of dominant position through practices like predatory pricing, raising barriers to entry, discrimination, tying arrangements (Section 15)
Mergers and Acquisitions (Sections 16-23)
- Grants PCC power to review mergers and acquisitions based on relevant factors
- Requires compulsory notification for mergers above P1 billion (Section 17)
- Allows PCC to prohibit or modify anti-competitive mergers (Section 18)
- Provides exemptions for mergers with efficiency gains or involving a failing firm (Section 21)
Determination of Relevant Market and Dominance (Sections 24-27)
- Outlines factors for determining relevant market and geographic area (Section 24)
- Defines criteria for determining control of an entity (Section 25)
- Provides guidelines for assessing anti-competitive agreements or conduct (Section 26)
- Establishes rebuttable presumption of market dominance at 50% market share (Section 27)
Enforcement and Penalties (Sections 28-45)
- Allows PCC to forbear from applying the Act in certain cases (Section 28)
- Imposes administrative fines up to P250 million for violations, with higher penalties for subsequent offenses (Section 29)
- Imposes criminal penalties of 2-7 years imprisonment and P50-250 million fines for anti-competitive agreements (Section 30)
- Outlines procedures for fact-finding, preliminary inquiry, and full investigation (Section 31)
- Establishes leniency program for entities that voluntarily disclose anti-competitive agreements (Section 35)
- Allows non-adversarial remedies like binding rulings, show cause orders, and consent orders (Section 37)
- Grants PCC power to punish for contempt with fines up to P100,000 or imprisonment up to 30 days (Section 38)
- Allows appeals of PCC decisions to the Court of Appeals (Section 39)
- Triples fines for violations involving basic necessities and prime commodities (Section 41)
- Provides immunity from suit and indemnification for PCC officials acting in good faith (Sections 42-43)
- Gives Regional Trial Courts original jurisdiction over competition cases (Section 44)
- Allows private civil actions for direct injury from violations (Section 45)
Other Provisions (Sections 46-55)
- Sets 5-year statute of limitations for violations (Section 46)
- Prohibits courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or injunctions against PCC, except under limited circumstances (Section 47)
- Allows trade associations for promoting quality standards without anti-competitive intent (Section 48)
- Establishes Congressional Oversight Committee on Competition (Section 49)
- Requires implementing rules and regulations within 180 days (Section 50)
- Appropriates initial budget of P300 million for PCC (Section 51)
- Provides 2-year transitional period for existing structures to comply (Section 53)
- Repeals inconsistent laws like Article 186 of Revised Penal Code and EO 45 (Section 55)
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Law
Philippine Competition Act
Republic Act No. 10667
•July 21, 2015
Republic of the Philippines
CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES
Metro Manila
Sixteenth Congress
Second Regular Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-eighth day of July, two thousand fourteen.
Republic Act No. 10667
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY PROHIBITING ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENTS, ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION AND ANTI-COMPETITIVE MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS, ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE COMPETITION COMMISSION AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Competition Act".
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. – The efficiency of market competition as a mechanism for allocating goods and services is a generally accepted precept. The State recognizes that past measures undertaken to liberalize key sectors in the economy need to be reinforced by measures that safeguard competitive conditions. The State also recognizes that the provision of equal opportunities to all promotes entrepreneurial spirit, encourages private investments, facilitates technology development and transfer and enhances resource productivity. Unencumbered...
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