Gov’t urged to implement competition policy reforms

State think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has called on the government to implement competition policy reforms to level the playing field for all businesses operating in the country.

These reforms are also expected to prevent “powerful interest groups and individuals” from controlling the market, PIDS said in a statement posted on its website.

According to PIDS, anti-competitive practices of certain influential businessmen span across various local industries, including pharmaceutical, trucking, food and ports operations.

Assistant Justice Secretary Geronimo L. Sy, who also heads the Office for Competition,  was quoted confirming the practices of a Filipino-Chinese businessman who “once used his influence to restrict the 13th Philippine Congress from passing a competition bill.”

Sy was also quoted in the PIDS statement as saying that some politicians owning generic drug firms had been lobbying to have their generic drugs qualified for government bidding.

A local trucking cartel also exists in the Philippines, he revealed, adding that some ports accept only the products that go through the said trucking cartel.

PIDS vice president and senior research fellow Rafaelita Aldaba also revealed an alleged “exclusive dealing by a canned tuna giant company.”

Aldaba said the said company reportedly used its “voluntary loyalty program” to convince certain dealers and retailers not to carry the products of a rival company.

She also noted a common practice among dominant companies of buying out their competitors.

Aldaba underscored the conflicting roles of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) as regulator, developer and operator of ports.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier called for the privatization of the PPA to end the agency’s multiple and conflicting roles as regulator, developer and competitor in maritime trade or port services.

The call for the PPA privatization is meant to level the playing field, ensure fair competition and encourage more investors to develop and operate private ports in the country.