Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)

PCC is formed to implement RA 10667 as a quasi-judicial body. I think almost all countries have this kind of authority. Since it's formed in 2016, a lot of news articles are out but mostly they were about M&A issues among big companies.

Key Provisions of Philippine Competition Act are:

1. The creation of PCC to implement the law.
2. Prohibited Anti-Competitive Agreements and Acts. 

a) Abuse of Dominant Position
Under Sec. 15 of RA 10667, the entities (whether companies or individuals) are prohibited from abusing their dominant position by engaging in conduct that would substantially prevent, restrict or lessen competition. Such conduct includes predatory pricing, imposing barriers to entry in an anti-competitive manner, unfair exercise of monopsony power, among others.

Notes: Dominant itself is not against the law. Abuse is the problem according to the law.

b) Mergers and Acquisitions

Under Sec. 17 of RA 10667, merger or acquisition agreements that substantially prevent, restrict or lessen competition are prohibited.

• Parties to the merger or acquisition agreement where the value of the transaction exceeds One Billion Pesos (Php 1,000,000,000.00) are required to notify the Commission of such agreement, and they cannot consummate the same without the approval of the Commission until thirty (30) days. The Commission may also prescribe other criteria (e.g., increased market share in the relevant market in excess of minimum thresholds) that would trigger this notification requirement.
• When the agreement is violated, the parties shall be subject to an administrative fine of one-percent (1%) to five percent (5%) off the value of the transaction.
• The Commission may request for further information that are reasonably necessary which would extend the period within which the agreement may not be consummated for another sixty (60) days. The merger or acquisition shall be considered approved and parties may proceed to consummate it when the period has already expired without decision.
• If the Commission declared that the agreement is prohibited, it may prohibit the implementation of the agreement unless there are changes indicated or the parties enter into legally enforceable agreements stated by the Commission.
• The Merger or acquisition agreement that are prohibited may be exempt from prohibition by the Commission provided that the parties establish that the concentration has brought or expected to bring gains in efficiency that are greater that the effects of any limitation on competition or faced with actual or imminent financial failure.

c) Restricting competition as to price, or components thereof, or other terms of trade.

d) Fixing price at an auction or in any form of bidding including cover bidding, bid suppression, bid rotation and market allocation and other analogous practices of bid manipulation

e) Other anti-competitive agreements whose “object or effect of substantially preventing, restricting or lessening competition” are also prohibited but subject to “rule of reason”. These Include:

• Setting, limiting, or controlling production, markets, technical development, or investment;
• Dividing or sharing the market, whether by volume of sales or purchases, territory, type of goods or services, buyers or sellers or any other means.

3. The Commission will have original and primary jurisdiction over all competition-related issues.

4. Administrative fines of up to P250 million pesos can be imposed. 

5. The law protects confidential business information submitted to the Commission

6. Prohibition on the Issuance of Temporary Restraining Orders, Preliminary Injunctions and Preliminary Mandatory Injunctions.

Only the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court may issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction or preliminary mandatory injunction against the Commission in the exercise of its duties or functions.