The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), a new competition watchdog is up & running
"The way to smooth merger reviews is paved with transparency and accountability. We must adhere to the law to avoid hefty fines and geared towards a culture of compliance,” the PCC Chairman Arsenio Balisacan was reported in the Manila Times giving this statement at the 16th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE) on Competition Law and Policy, a gathering of all competition authorities from around the world with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held from July 5 to 7.
The reports note that the Philippine Competition Act was signed into law in July 2015 while PCC was established in February 2016 to enforce the competition law and implement a national competition policy to promote and protect the competitive markets. It also reported that to date, the PCC has received 109 notifications on mergers and acquisitions amounting to a total of P1.8 trillion, and has approved 88 transactions.
