The Philippines will continue to cultivate market competition and improve regulatory efficiency through a whole-of-government approach. This entails leveraging digitalization and partnerships to enhance productivity, expedite and implement economic liberalization reforms, and strengthen competition enforcement, ultimately boosting economic growth and transforming the country’s productive sectors.
In the first three years of Plan implementation, the national government—led by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)—ensured the timely investigation of cases, adapted to digital-era challenges, and collaborated with law enforcement authorities to curb anti-competitive practices. Efforts to ease business entry were strengthened through the easing of foreign investment restrictions in key sectors, public services, and retail enterprises. Meanwhile, advocacy and capacity-building initiatives such as the Champions of Competition Program continued to foster competition practices among government and private sector stakeholders.
Landmark regulatory reforms, including the enactment of the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) and the issuance of National Electrification Administration Memorandum Circular No. 2024-18, enhanced regulatory efficiency, enabling a more competitive and investor-friendly environment.
In the next three years, the government will pursue the full implementation of the Philippine Competition Act (PCA) and implement strategies to further enhance market efficiency and consumer welfare. These efforts will focus on deterring anti-competitive practices, encouraging market entry, and supporting innovation.
Chapter 10 aims to achieve the following outcomes through specific strategies:
Anti-competitive practices diminished
- Strengthen and expand competition enforcement
- Leverage research and development efforts to identify and address competition and regulatory issues in priority sectors
- Develop framework for the determination of significant market power (SMP), and the specification of obligations on entitles with SMP
- Ensure compliance with the PCA through adoption of competition compliance programs
Barriers to entry and re-entry reduced
- Expedite the operationalization of recent economic liberalization reforms (e.g., Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and Foreign Investment Act)
- Enable open access to essential infrastructure facilities in key sectors
- Institutionalize the use of Competition Impact Assessment Manual/Toolkit
- Owners of essential facilities/resources to grant fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms of access
Burden of regulation reduced
- Expedite efforts to automate and streamline processes for business registration, renewal, closure, and pivot
- Eliminate redundant, duplicative and overlapping regulations
- Establish the Philippine Ease of Doing Business Reporting System
- Implement the National Policy on Regulatory Management System
- Enforce the separation of regulatory and propriety activities of government-owned and controlled corporations
- Business to volunteer as Anti-Red Tape Authority Champions
Adopt a whole-of-government approach to strengthen market competition
- Pursue full implementation of the National Competition Policy
- Increase awareness, understanding, and support for the PCA and PCC
Promote competition and improve regulatory efficiency in and through digital technologies
- Enhance monitoring and understanding of emerging technologies, markets, and business models
- Expand access to broadband internet and digital technologies to enhance consumer choice and facilitate digitalization and innovation among micro, small, and medium enterprises
- Adopt policies to improve competition and regulatory efficiency in digital markets
Full Version of the PDP 2023-2028 Midterm Update : https://pdp.degov.ph/philippine-development-plan-2023-2028-midterm-update/