PCC sets sights on ‘anticompetitive’ manufacturers

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is set to probe “anticompetitive” sectors in the manufacturing industry, specifically those that have a high impact on consumers.

On the sidelines of a public forum, PCC Chair Arsenio Balisacan told reporters that the antitrust body would look into a study that listed priority sectors most exposed to anticompetitive behavior. The study was led by Erlinda Medalla, a renowned research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

These sectors include those that produce: refined petroleum products, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, milk-based infant and dietetic food, dairy products, agricultural and forestry machinery, pens and pencils, sports and energy drinks, refractory ceramic products, power-driven hand tools, cement and sugar.

The list also included the cement sector, which has been under PCC investigation since January last year.

In listing these high-risk manufacturing sectors, Medalla considered, among other factors, market concentration and high price cost margins.

Balisacan, however, said that the list still needed to be vetted using other considerations, particularly their impact on consumers and a probe’s “probability of success.”

He said the list would just help PCC in knowing which sectors to prioritize, since the commission has “very limited resources.”

“We’ll have to bring in other data to supplement data we’ve seen here,” he told reporters.

“If this sector has high probability [of] anticompetitive practices, the next question you ask is how important is that [sector] to consumers [and] to the overall economy,” he said.

He said they would have to look into a sector’s effects on consumers, whether direct or indirect, as well as the probability of an actual case succeeding.

He said Medalla’s list would be of paramount use for PCC’s workshop next month, wherein the competition watchdog will discuss the priorities for 2019.

“We want to make sure that our direction is well-informed, such that we will fight for these priorities in terms of budget support,” he said.