MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino is set to sign into law Tuesday the landmark anti-trust bill and the measure amending the 50-year old Cabotage Law, two legislations that lawmakers said aim to promote trade and fair competition.

House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. said the signing ceremony is scheduled in Malacañang at 10 a.m. Tuesday, with leaders of both chambers of Congress to witness the signing.

“Despite the deliberations on the BBL (proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law), we were able to insert in between the plenary discussions of the BBL, these two, the Anti-Trust Bill and the (amendments) to the Cabotage Law that will be beneficial for our economy,” Gonzales said.

He said the amendments to the Cabotage Law would help reduce the cost of trade.

The two measures were listed as among the priority measures of the House and the Senate.

The anti-trust measure or the proposed Fair Competition Act, principally authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., seeks to prevent monopolies and protect the economy from unfair competition practices.

Belmonte earlier said the measure has direct benefits for ordinary Filipinos as it would boost the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI).

The House Speaker said the measure would foster fair competition that would result to better products and services as well as lower costs that would benefit ordinary folks.

The bill seeks to establish a National Competition Policy that would encourage fair and free economic competition by prohibiting the abuse of market dominant positions, and the excessive concentration of economic power by regulating improper concerted acts and unfair business practices.

The bill provides for the creation of a Philippine Competition Commission, under the Office of the President, to implement the policy.

Likewise, the bill prohibits all unfair methods of competition as well as unfair deceptive trade or business practices which have the object or effect of unreasonably and substantially preventing, restricting or lessening competition.

The bill also provides for the review of mergers and acquisitions by the commission.

The Cabotage Bill seeks to allow the entry and movement of foreign cargo vessels between ports within the country.

It also aims to lower the cost of shipping containerized export cargoes from Philippine ports to international ports and containerized import cargos from international ports, the authors said.

The bill, which applies only to foreign vessels carrying containers, has long been pushed by various business groups as well as by some government agencies, including the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

Under the bill, a foreign vessel arriving from a port abroad would be allowed to carry container vans or cargos to its domestic port of final destination, after being cleared at the port of entry.

Such vessels would be allowed to carry container vans or cargos by another foreign vessel calling at the same port of entry to the local port of final destination.

For a foreign vessel departing a port in the country through another local port, it would be allowed to carry foreign container vans or cargo intended for export.

It would also be allowed to carry foreign container vans or cargos by another foreign vessel through a domestic transshipment port and transferred at the said port to its foreign port of final destination.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/07/20/1478728/p-noy-sign-anti-trust-cabotage-bills