The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Lito U. Gagni
High energy prices and telecommunications issues are expected to be the priority concerns of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), the new agency tasked to address competition issues in industries by leveling the playing field among participants.
This much was revealed by newly designated Philippine PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan in various interviews after the passage of Republic Act 10667, otherwise known as the Philippine Competition Act, which President Aquino signed into law on July 21, 2015.
As one of the cornerstones of Mr. Aquino’s presidency, the law was passed four years after it was filed in Congress to address the need to stop destructive business practices by big companies that often result in high prices for products and services.
Known for his research on inclusive growth and poverty issues, Balisacan has been an exponent of good business behavior among business firms in the numerous treatises he wrote and co-wrote with other development economists.
Like other development economists, Balisacan believes that only in fostering fair competition could the poor be spared from high prices that rob them of their purchasing power.
The new agency, which has been empowered to sanction erring companies through fines and other penalties like capping prices, is mandated by law to ensure a fair and efficient market competition and providing a level playing field among businesses engaged in trade, industry and all commercial economic activities.
It is said Balisacan, in one presentation before the Cabinet, zeroed in on the problem of high energy rates, describing it as a major issue bedeviling the anti-poverty program of the government.
On the telco front, the ongoing battle between Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, on the one hand, and San Miguel Corp., on the other, on the issue of the monopoly of the 700 bandwidth is said to have been “occupying center stage” in many business gatherings. And it is said that, unless the brewing problem is resolved soonest by the PCC, things could get a lot worse.
It is known that San Miguel, in partnership with the Australian telco giant Telstra, is just about ready to unroll its own telco company, assured of dominance in the cited bandwidth.
But it also known that such kind of dominance is one of the no-nos under the Philippine Competition Law, and Smart and Globe are said to be determined to fight it out against San Miguel and its partner. They are, in fact, petitioning the National Telecommunications Communication to allow them to share the bandwidth in question.