PCC in a bind on MOA with NTC, ERC

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is in a bind in concluding an agreement with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), two government agencies critical in the discharge of their function as the country’s foremost anti-trust watchdog.

PCC Commissioner Johannes Bernabe told reporters that unlike other government agencies, the memorandum of agreement with NTC and ERC has been difficult to conclude.

All their MOAs with other government agencies affirmed or acknowledged what is in the law, that PCC is the primary and sole authority on competition issues and concerns in the country.

“We are not able to conclude MOAs with them as quickly as anticipated because of changes in composition, which are getting in the way of concluding those MOAs,” he said.

For instance, there is a pending case lodged by Smart and Globe questioning PCC’s jurisdiction over the telco duopoly case on their acquisition of San Miguel Corp., the third telco player in the country. The telco duopoly argued that NTC as the regulator has jurisdiction over their case, not PCC.

The pending case has made both PCC and NTC more careful in their moves, he said.

“We don’t want to put them in an awkward situation because can you imagine if the entities they regulate (and) actually the PCC has jurisdiction,” said Bernabe.

But Bernabe said they can adjust the MOA to the effect that it will no longer insist on PCC’s sole authority on competition over concerns that fall under NTC’s jurisdiction.

He hinted that a MOA with NTC could be similar with the MOA it forged with the Office of the Ombudsman which is more to facilitate capabilities to pursue investigation, for instance on bid rigging since most of the government agencies are engaged in procurement.

On the ERC case, it has the EPIRA Law which has a very specific provision on competition, which was partly repealed with the passage of the Philippine Competition Act. But there are also some provisions under Section 43 that need clearer interpretation.

Even if this particular issue is resolved, Bernabe said the ERC leadership has remained vacant with the suspension of its top officials by Malacañang.

“Who will sign the MOA in behalf of ERC,” he said.

The lack of MOA with these two agencies has no implications yet on the work of PCC, but these agreements should be able to facilitate sharing of information.

So far, the PCC has MOAs with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, SEC, PSE, Insurance Commission, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and Commission on Audit.

PCC has yet to sign an agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry because although consumer protection is not in their mandate, the focus of its policies is towards consumer welfare.

The MOA with DTI is more of ensuring that their decisions are clearly for the benefit of consumers and therefore such messaging should be properly conveyed to consumers. (BCM)