MANILA -- The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) announced that it will soon generate a list of industries within the manufacturing sector that violate laws on fair competition.
In an interview on Wednesday, PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan said the agency, with its limited manpower and resources would identify the priority sectors to address the market inefficiencies and pursue a fair market competition.
"We have anti-competitive practices so the question is what sectors are employing these? If we are able to identify these sectors, that would be an initial start," Balisacan said.
Balisacan said the scoping study of the manufacturing sector, conducted by Dr. Erlinda Medalla, could guide the PCC in determining sector-specific competition concerns and in prioritizing enforcement cases.
"In July, we will have a commission workshop where we will be setting the priorities for next year and this would be a good input for this exercise," he said.
Based on the study, the suggested priority list in the manufacturing sector include the following: refined petroleum products; fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, milk-based infants' and dietic foods; dairy products' agricultural and forestry machinery; pens and pencils of all kinds; sports and energy drink; refractory ceramic products; power-driven hand tools; cement; and sugar.
The suggested list is based on the indicators of concentration and price cost market.
Balisacan said the agency would tweak the list by considering other factors, such as identifying sectors that have significant impact and determining the probability of success in pursuing the case.
"We want to make sure that the cases that we take in, the sectors that we prioritize are the ones that have potential high impact as well as high probability of success," he said.
He said addressing these competition concerns in the manufacturing sector could eventually lead to improving consumer's welfare, particularly by creating a lot of high quality jobs.
"It could create a more dynamic, more efficient manufacturing sector by addressing these competition concerns. You may actually be doing more for consumers indirectly by raising their incomes," he said. (PNA)
