PCC assures level playing field in local pharmaceutical market

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), in compliance with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s directive, has vowed to ensure fair competition in the pharmaceutical market.

In his first State of the Nation Address on Monday, the President ordered the country’s competition watchdog to ensure fair competition when it comes to prices of medicines.

“Inuutusan ko naman ang Philippine Competition Commission na pantay-pantay dapat at walang kartel sa hanay ng mga pharmaceutical companies. Dahil kapag bukas ang merkado, bababa ang presyo ng gamot para mapakinabangan ng ating mamamayan,” Marcos enunciated in his first address to the nation on Monday.

With this, the PCC, in a news statement issued on Tuesday, affirmed its “commitment to enforce its mandate of cracking down on cartels and abusive conduct across different industries, including the pharmaceutical sector.”

It is worth noting that the Philippines is known to have one of the highest costs of medicines in Asia. The competition watchdog stressed that the production of unbranded generic medicines lags behind, even relative to other developing countries.

“Thus from its inception, the PCC has been advocating measures that will eliminate barriers to the entry and viability of generic medicines manufacturers in the country,” said PCC’S Officer in Charge Chairperson Atty. Johannes R. Bernabe.

He also mentioned that the competition watchdog already has existing efforts to combat anti-competitive practices.

Moreover, Bernabe said, “the Commission has been consistently monitoring and looking into curtailing possible anti-competitive situations, including cartels, that may exist in the different segments of the supply chain of pharmaceutical products.”

However, with the President’s call to achieve a level playing field and fair competition in the pharmaceutical industry, the PCC will further intensify its efforts in addressing issues in the said sector on top of its current efforts.

Former PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan, in the Commission’s 2021 Annual Report, highlighted that risks of anticompetitive behavior persist, including anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions, cartel activities, and abuses of dominance.

With this, he said that as the country continues to face the challenges of the pandemic and rebuild, the PCC commits to the removal of anticompetitive practices that derail the recovery process.

The competition watchdog has always vowed to ramp up its enforcement activities to investigate markets in priority sectors, monitor complaints, and address consumer and stakeholder queries.