THE vice chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry has expressed confidence that the House of Representatives and the Senate can reconcile their different versions of the proposed Philippine Fair Competition Act (PFCA) during their bicameral conference committee.
Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Anthony G. del Rosario of Davao del Norte, a member of the bicameral committee, said that both chambers are eyeing to set their bicameral meeting for the measure this week.
“We have still no schedule [for bicameral committee meeting], although I suspect that it will be this week,” said del Rosario, adding, “There are some different provisions [between the Senate version and the House version] but, I think, we will be able to make compromises during our meeting.”
“On Monday we will study the Senate version to determine the differences in our versions,” del Rosario said.
Among the members of the bicameral committee are LP Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino, Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, and Party-list Reps. Ibarra M. Gutierrez III of Akbayan and Antonio L. Tinio of ACT Teachers.
Last December the Senate passed on final reading its version of the fair-competition measure, while the House approved its version on Tuesday.
The lower chamber’s version of the bill is stiffer than the Senate version.
However, both versions of the measure aim to minimize, if not totally eradicate, unfair competition, monopolies and cartels.
The Senate and House versions of the bill also propose the creation of the Philippine Competition Commission that will prosecute those engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices and other such practices with the purpose of preventing, restricting, or distorting competition.
The proposed act also provides heavy penalty against those found to be engaged in unfair competition by facing a fine ranging from P50 million to P200 million.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., one of the main authors of the bill, said that the passage of the proposed PFCA will benefit not only the business sector but also the common people.
Belmonte added that the proposed PFCA will be a larger contributor to economic growth, as foreign direct investments are seen to increase once it is implemented.
He said that the proposed PFCA has been repeatedly filed since the 8th Congress, but it was never passed.
Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that “having a competition law will lead to lower prices, higher quality of products and services, and more choices for consumers, as fostering a competitive economic environment spurs market efficiency and innovation.”
Drilon also said that the Fair Competition Act contributes to Congress’s goal of passing a package of priority economic measures to improve the Philippine business climate, boost investment, and ensure macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability to prepare the country for the Asean Economic Community this year.
He added that “the Philippines remains the only member of the Asean-5 countries [which include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand], where a competition law is not already in place.”