Duterte admin disowns 'anti-competition' provision in House-approved stimulus bill

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday denied that the Duterte administration proposed the provision  allegedly curtailing laws against competitive business behavior under the House-approved COVID-19 economic stilumus bill.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has claimed that the House's ARISE Bill would weaken its mandate to curtail monopolies amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“Those items, definitely, were inserted and we’re not and did not emanate from the administration’s proposal,” Dominguez said.

The PCC in a position paper raised the red flag on a provision that it said limited its mandate by requiring it, among others, to desist from imposing fines and other monetary penalties;  from requiring any submission by parties to proceedings before it, including fact-finding or preliminary inquiries; and issuing any show cause order, cease and desist order, subpoena, statement of concern or similar statement and other similar issuances. 

The questioned provision is in the Section 12 of the House Bill No. 6815 or the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines Act (ARISE), which was approved on third and final reading last June 4.

Albay Representative Joey Salceda, one of the authors of the measure, explained that the ARISE bill would not prevent the PCC from performing its mandate, but only ensures that regulatory agencies do not sit on the pending matters, and that the continuity of business at this crucial time is unimpeded, especially those that have to do with essential goods and services. -NB, GMA News