The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. recently signed both the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code of the Philippines and the Internet Transactions Act of 2023.
Republic Act No. 11966 or the PPP law would “establish a stable and predictable environment for collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the gaps in the infrastructure systems and also free up much-needed resources to enable the government to pursue other equally important projects and initiatives.
On the other hand, Republic Act No. 11967 or the Internet Transaction of 2023 would help make the country embrace digital commerce by helping uphold far business practices.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is eyeing six key proposals to help decongest the country’s jail facilities during the first-ever National Jail Decongestion summit in Manila last week.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez pledged to address the plight of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in prison.
Romualdez said, “first, we are amenable to a comprehensive review of the classification of crimes as ‘capital’ and ‘non-bailable’. The Revised Penal Code’s classification system, almost a century old, needs an overhaul. This review will assess the deterrent effect of these classifications and consider the decriminalization of certain offenses like libel, abortion, and dueling. Our goal is to ensure that punishments are proportional to the gravity of the crimes committed”.
Romualdez added that the House is also mulling classifying adult offenders according to their offenses.
The Department of Justice, earlier announced that the government is eyeing the construction of 16 new regional jails to decongest the country’s prison facilities.