The Philippine Competition Act is finally done at the bicam level which means it’s up for signing by the President to be enacted as a law.



This is the longest running bill in Congress and the current landmark bill passed by the 16th Congress. It’s been around since the 8th Congress (1990s).

The Senate version, Senate Bill 2282, was sponsored by Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and unanimously approved (13-0) last December 2014.

The Philippine Competition Act will make sure that no business entity would have an unfair advantage over its competitors so that consumers would enjoy the benefits of a free market.

According to the office of Sen. Bam Aquino, the Philippine Competition Act will open the telco industry to new and/or international players among many other industries which has few big players.

In the case of our Internet industry, it will hopefully help in the entry of new players, and will then help us in having more choices, higher quality and cheaper prices for our Internet connection.

The law will penalize unfair practices such as:

* Directly or indirectly fixing, controlling or maintaining of prices

* Setting, limiting, or controlling the production of goods and services to the detriment of consumers

Many other industries will be affected, among them the SM Malls which have been doing a lot of anti-competitive practices (pushing Bonus brands over competitors).

Official statement of the Office of Sen. Bam Aquino is posted here.