PCC, Singapore’s competition agency forge partnership

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has forged a partnership with the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) to bolster PCC’s capacity in enforcing the country’s competition law.

PCC chief Arsenio Balisacan on Thursday met with CCS commissioner Toh Han Li to strengthen ties of the two competition institutions.

“The PCC aspires to be a world-class authority in promoting fair market competition to help achieve a vibrant and inclusive economy and advance consumer welfare,” Balisacan said.

To achieve its goal of being a world-class anti-trust body, Balisacan said the Philippines would have to continue benchmarking and partnering with international competition authorities.

“While we have been able to attract talented and committed team members, one of our challenges in PCC is capacity building. We hope that this is a start of a good collaboration between our institutions,” he said.

Meanwhile, Li said the CCS is excited to partner with the Philippines since the country was the most recent in Asia to have a competition law.

He said CCS is ready to share its best practices and help PCC in strengthening its capacity in enforcing the Philippine Competition Act.

“Key to effective enforcement are proper procedure and protocols. In our case, our staff have been trained by the police and we have an attorney present during interviews,” Li said.

Officially organized in February 2016, PCC is mandated to implement the national competition policy and prohibit anti-competitive agreements, abuses of dominant market position, and anti-competitive business mergers and acquisitions.

To date, the PCC has reviewed 65 mergers and acquisitions and has likewise received four referrals for possible anti-competitive conduct.