Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BILLNo,___ 8134

Introduced by RE!

ALFREDO “ALBEE” B. BENITEZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE,

The adoption of the GATT in mid-90's and the entry of the Philippines to the World
Trade Organization raised the need to scrutinize the dynamism between corporations on one
side and the government on the other. With the coming of age of corporations having a
profound influence on market forces and on government action, the issue of fair trade vis-a-
vis fair competition has taken on a life of its own. As it stands, the country’s current laws on
competition are antiquated at the least and inadequate at best. There is therefore a need not
only to revisit such laws but to put in place a statute that addresses not only the dynamism
between corporate action and government regulation but also to ensure that start-up
enterprises and other small corporate entities have a level playing field in the Philippine
market environment,

This representation is thus fortunate to be given the opportunity to file the counterpart
bill to an anti-trust measure filed in the Senate - The Competition Law of 2010 - by the
Honorable Senate President, Juan Ponce Enrile. The proposed legislative measure aims to put
in place a law that, in the words of Senator President’s Explanatory Note - “penalizes
combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade and all forms of artificial machinations that
will injure, destroy or prevent free market competition.”

It is this Representation’s singular honor and privilege to file this counterpart bill in
the House of Representatives with the end in view of facilitating the speedy deliberation of
this piece of proposed legislation and its eventual passage into law that will benefit every
consumer and protect them from unscrupulous practices of big business in the country.

For these reasons, the passage of this measure is eamestly sought.

. BENITEZ,
legros Occidental


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

nouse sino. 3134

ALFREDO “ALBEE” B. BENITEZ.

AN ACT PENALIZING UNFAIR TRADE AND ANTI-COMPETITIVE
PRACTICES IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE, UNFAIR COMPETITION, ABUSE OF
DOMINANT POWER, STRENGTHENING THE POWERS OF REGULATORY
AUTHORITIES AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

CHAPTER |

LE AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

CTION 1. Title. ~

2010."

his Act shall be known and cited as the "Competition Act of

2. Declaration of Policy. - Pursuant to the constitutional mandate that the State
shall regulate or prohibit monopolies when the public interest so requires and that no
combinations in restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed, the State shall:

(a) promote and enhance economic efficiency and free and full
competition in trade, industry and all commercial economic activities;

(b) prevent the concent
threaten to control the producti
distort, manipulate or const
prices in the Philippines; and

ion of economic power in a few persons who
trade, or industry in order to stifle competition,
the discipline of free markets, increase market

(©) penalize all forms of unfair trade, anti-competitive conduct and
combinations in restraint of trade, with the objective of protecting and advancing
consumer welfare.
CHAPTER 2
SCOPE AND APPLICATION, DEFINITION OF TERMS

SEC. 3. Seope and Application. - This Act shall be enforceable within the territory
of the Republic of the Philippines and shall apply to all areas of trade, industry and


commercial economic activity. It shall likewise be applicable to international trade having
direct, substantial and reasonably foreseeable effects in trade, industry or commerce in the
Republic of the Philippines including those that result from acts done outside the Republic
of the Philippines.

The Act shall apply to: (a) all firms as defined hereunder and all their commercial
agreements, actions or transactions involving goods, services or intellectual property; and,
(b) all natural persons who, acting in their capacity as owner, manager or employee of a
firm, shall authorize, engage or aid in the commission of restrictive practices prohibited
under this Act.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the following terms shall be
defined as:

(a) Agreements shall refer to any type or form of arrangement,
understanding, undertaking or concerted action, whether formal or informal,
written or oral;

(b) Cartel shall mean a combination of firms, providing goods in relevant
markets, acting or joined together to obtain a shared monopoly to control
production, sale and price, or to obtain control in any particular industry or
commodity, or a group of firms that agree to restrict trade to their mutual benefit,
which may or may not be of an international scale. It shall also refer to firms or
section of firms having common interest designed to promote the exchange of
knowledge resulting from scientific and technical research, exchange of patent
rights and standardization of products among themselves with the intent of
preventing, restricting or distorting competition;

(©) Competition shall mean the process by which economic agents, acting
independently in a market, limit each other's ability to control the prevailing
conditions in the market;

(d) Control shall refer to at least twenty percent (20%) ownership, directly
or indirectly, of a firm or a group of firms by another firm;

(©) Firms. shall

ude any person, natural or juridical, partnership,
combinati ion in any form, whether incorporated or not, domestic or
foreign, including those owned or controlled by the government, engaged directly
or indirectly in any economic activity: Provided, That, two firms, one of which is
controlled by the other, shall be treated as one firm: Provided, further, That two or
more firms that are controlled by a single firm shall be treated as one firm;

(8) Goods shall include all types of goods and services;

(g) Market shall refer to a place or venue for commercial activity, which
may extend beyond the borders of the Republic of the Philippines, where articles
are bought or sold. It shall also refer to the geographical or economic extent of
‘commercial demand;

(h) Monopoly shal! mean a privilege or undue advantage of one or more
firms, consisting in the exclusive right to carry on a particular business or trade,
and/or manufacture a particular product, article or object of trade, commerce or


industry. It is a form of market structure in which one or only a few firms
dominate the total sales of a product or service;

(i) Monopoly Power or Dominant Position shall refer to a situation where
a firm, either by itself or acting in collusion with other firms, is in a position to
control a relevant market for the sale of a particular good or service by fixing its
prices, excluding competitor firm, or controlling the market in a specific
geographical area; and

Gj) Relevant Market shall refer to the line of commerce in which
competition has been restrained. It shall also refer to the geographic area involved,
including all reasonably substitutable goods, and all nearby competitors, to which
consumers could turn if the restraint or abuse results in the significant increase in
prices.

CHAPTER 3
PROHIBITED ACTS.

SEC. 5. Cartelization. - \t shall be unlawful for firms providing goods in relevant
markets to join together to monopolize, or to control production in a particular industry or
commodity, the sale and price of such good, and to agree to restrict trade for their mutual
benefit, which may or may not be on an international scale. This shall also include an
association by agreement of firms or sections of firms having common interests designed to

‘omote the interchange of knowledge resulting from scientific and technical researches,
exchange of patent rights and standardization of products among themselves with the intent
of preventing, restricting or distorting competition.

Restrictive agreements resulting from cartel-like behavior of firms, in any form, are
hereby per se deemed illegal. These shall include, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Agreements to fix selling price of goods or other terms of sale;
(b) Agreements to limit supply or output;

(c) Agreements to divide the market, whether by volume of sales or purchase or
by territory, by type of goods sold, by customers or sellers, or by any other means;

(d) Agreements to exclude or limit dealings with particular suppliers or sellers
from supplying or selling goods, or customers from acquiring or buying goods;

(e) Agreements applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with
other parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; and

(f) Agreements making the transactions in particular goods dependent upon
other conditions which have no connection with the subject of the transaction.

There shall be a prima facie case for the existence of a cartel if and when the
Department of Trade and Industry (DT!) or concerned regulatory agency finds that two or
more persons or firms that are ostensibly competing for the same relevant market and
actually perform uniform or complementary acts among themselves which tend to bring
about artificial and unreasonable increase, decrease or fixing in the price of any goods or


when they simultancously and unreasonably increase, decrease or fix the prices of their
seemingly competing goods thereby lessening competition in the relevant market among
themselves.

SEC. 6. Monopolization. - It shall be unlawful for any firm to willfully or knowingly
acquire and maintain its market power by excluding competitors from any part of trade,
industry or commerce as distinguished from natural growth or development of a firm as a
consequence of a superior product, business acumen or historic accident: Provided, That, a
firm that has at least fifty percent (50%) of the relevant market, or firms up to three (3) in
number has at least seventy percent (70%) of the relevant market, as found and certified by
the Department of Trade and Industry or the concerned regulatory agency shall be deemed a
monopoly or in a dominant position,

SEC. 7. Abuse of Monopoly Power or Dominant Position. - It shall be unlawful for
‘one or more firms with monopoly power or in dominant position within relevant markets to
abuse their dominant position, by engaging in unfair methods of competition, or in unfair or
deceptive trade practices, or entering into combinations in the form of trust or otherwise, or
conspiracy, with the purpose and effect to prevent, restrict, or distort competition. Abusive
agreements such as, but not limited to, any of the following, shall be deemed to fall under
the crime of abuse of monopoly power or market power by one in dominant position:

(a) Predatory Behavior Towards Competitors - Any agreement, including,
but not limited to, selling goods at a very low price with the intent of driving
‘competitors out of the market, or creating barriers to entry;

(b) Price Fixing - Any agreement among competitors (o raise, suppress, fix
or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods and services are sold such as,
but not limited to, establishing or adhering to price discounts, holding prices
firmly, eliminating or reducing discounts, adopting a standard or formula for
computing prices, maintaining certain price differentials between different types,
sizes or quantities of products, adhering to a minimum fee or schedule and other
analogous schemes with the purpose and effect of creating a monopoly or cartel or
lessening competition.

(©) Bid Rigging - Any agreement to fix price at auctions or in any other
form of bidding, with the purpose and effect of creating a monopoly or cartel, or
lessening competition such as, but not limited, to cover bidding, bid suppression,
bid rotation and market allocation and other analogous

Ii determining whether there is price fixing or bid rigging, the following
circumstances may be considered

(1) generally, any considered evidence that two sellers of similar
goods have agreed to set the price of their goods, to sell only a certain
amount of their goods, or to sell only to a limited number of buyers or
consumers;

2) a drastic change in prices of goods and services involving
more than one seller of similar goods of different brands, particularly if
the changes in prices take place in equal amount and about the same



(3) a seller refusing to sell based on an agreement with a
competitor;

(4) the same firm has repeatedly been the low bidder who has been
awarded contracts for a certain service or a particular bidder seems to
win bids on a fixed-rotation;

(5) there is an unusual and unexplainable difference between the
winning bid and all other bids; and

(6) the same bidder bids substantially higher on some bids than on
others, and there is no logical cost reason to explain the difference.

(d) Limitation and Control of Markets - Any agreement to limit or control
production, markets, technical development, or investment with the purpose and
effect of creating a monopoly or cartel, or lessening competition.

() Market Allocation - Any agreement to divide the market, whether by
volume of sales or purchase or by territory, by type of goods sold, by customers or
sellers or by any other means, with the purpose and effect of creating a monopoly
or cartel, or lessening competition.

(f) Arrangements to Share Markets or Sources of Supply - Any agreement
to share markets or sources of supply of raw materials, with the purpose and effect
of creating a monopoly or cartel, or lessening competition.

(g) Price Discrimination - Any agreement prescribing or charging, directly
or indirectly, discriminatory pricing terms or conditions in the supply or purchase
of goods of like grade and quality with the purpose and effect of creating a
monopoly or cartel, or substantially lessening competition: Provided, That nothing
contained herein shall be construed to prohibit permissible price differentials
unless the same shall have the effect of preventing, restricting or distorting
competition: Provided, further, That for the purpose of this section, the following
shall be considered permissible price differes a

(1) Socialized Pricing - Socialized pricing for the less fortunate
sector of the economy;

(2) Volume Discounts - Price differentials which reflect an
allowance for differences in the cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery
resulting from differing methods or quantities in which the goods are
sold or delivered to the purchasers;

(3) Competitive Pricing - A price differential or other terms of sale
in response to the competitive price of payments, services or facilities
furnished by a competitor;

(4) Bonafide Selection of Customers - The selection of customers
on bona fide transaction; and



(5) Price Differentials Due to Changing Market Conditions or
Marketability of Goods — Price changes from time to time in response
to changing conditions affecting the market or the marketability of the
goods concemed such as, but not limited to, actual or imminent
deterioration of perishable goods, obsolescence of seasonal goods,
distress sales under court process, or sale on good faith in
discontinuance of business,

(h) Exclusivity Arrangement - Any agreement imposing restrictions on the
lease or contract for sale or trade of goods concerning where, to whom, or in what
forms goods may be sold or traded, such as, but not limited to, fixing prices, or
giving preferential discounts, or rebate upon such price, or imposing conditions
not to deal with competing firms, where the purpose of such agreement is to
lessen competition: Provided, That nothing contained herein shall prohibit or
render unlawful permissible franchising, licensing or exclusive distributorship
agreements.

(i) Tie-In Arrangements - Any agreement making the supply of particular
goods dependent upon the purchase or lease of other goods from the supplier or
his consignee, where the purpose and effect of such sale or lease or such condition
is to substantially lessen competition or to create a monopoly or cartel.

@ Boycott - Any concerted refusal to sell or conspiracy not to sell or to
stop doing business on the part of the suppliers of any goods, unless for a
legitimate purpose, such as, but not limited to:

(1). Defaulting Borrowers - refusal by one or more credit
institutions to extend loans to defaulting debtors;

(2) Defaulting Buyers - refusal by one or more manufacturers
or sellers to sell on credit to defaulting customers; and

(3) Violators of Intellectual Property Rights - refusal by
manufacturers or sellers to have any commercial dealings with one or
more firms who violate the intellectual property rights of the owners of
patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property.

SEC. 8. Other Unfair Competition Practices. - The following acts shall be unlawful
acts of unfair competition and shall be punishable under this A\

(a) Distribution of false or misleading information which is capable of
harming the business interests of another firm;

(b) Distribution of false or misleading information to consumers, including the
distribution of information lacking a reasonable basis related to price, character,
method or place of production, properties, suitability for use, or of quality goods; and

(©) Unauthorized receipt, use, or dissemination of confidential scientific,
technical, production, business or trade information.


CHAPTER 4
FINES AND PENALTIES

SEC. 9. Penalties. - Without prejudice to the violation of other laws, any firm that
shall be found to have violated Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this Act, or any combination
thereof, shall, for each and every violation, be punished by a fine of not less than Ten
million pesos (Php 10,000,000.00) and not exceeding Fifty million pesos
(Php50,000,000.00) if a natural person; by a fine of not less than Two hundred fifty
million pesos (Php250,000,000.00) but not exceeding Seven hundred fifty million pesos
(Php750,000,000.00) if.a firm, and by imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) years, or both,
at the discretion of the court. In the alternative, a fine shall be imposed in the amount double
the gross proceeds gained by the violator or double the gross loss suffered by the plaintiffs.

SEC. 10. imposition of Fines by Regulatory Agency, - Notwithstanding any
provisions of law, regulatory agencies shall, in the conduct of their functions or duties, have
the power to impose fines in the amount not less than One hundred thousand pesos
(Phpl0O,000.00) and not exceeding Five million pesos (PhpS,000,000.00), if a natural
person; and not less than Five million pesos (PhpS,000,000.00) and not exceeding Fifty
million pesos (Php50,000,000.00) if a firm for each violation of or non-compliance with an
order or notice of the regulatory agency. Ten percent (10%) of such fines shall accrue to the
budget of the regulatory agency for the exclusive use in the enforcement of this Act.

CHAPTER 5

ENFORCEME!

SEC. 11, Preliminary Inquiry. - The Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination
with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), other regulatory and/or appropriate
government agency, shall motu propio, upon the filing of a verified complaint by an
interested party or upon referral by the concerned regulatory agency, initiate a preliminary
inquiry for the enforcement of this Act based on reasonable grounds.

SEC. 12. Powers of Concerned Regulatory Agencies. - Notwithstanding the
provisions of the preceding section, the exercise of regulatory powers by different
government agencies over an industry or a sub-sector of an industry shall be cumulative and
shall not be construed in any way as derogating from the power and authority of the
concerned agency. The government agencies shall cooperate and coordinate with one
another in the exercise of their powers in order to prevent overlap, to share confidential
information, or for other effective measures.

SEC. 13. Power to Investigate and to Enforce Orders and Resolutions. - The DOJ
shall conduct preliminary inquiries by administering oaths, issuing subpoena duces tecum
and summoning witnesses, and commissioning consultants or experts. It shall determine if
any provision of this Act has been violated, enforce its orders and carry out its resolutions
by means, provisional or otherwise, under existing laws and procedures including the power
to punish for contempt and to impose fines.

SEC. 14. Self-incrimination. - Pursuant to the preceding section, a person subject of
any preliminary inquiry or investigation by the DOJ shall produce the specified document or
information when so required by written notice: Provided, That no person shall be excused



from disclosing any document or information to the inquiring officer on the ground that the
disclosure of the information or document may be incriminating: Provided, further, That
such document or information produced by the person subject of investigation shall not be
admissible as evidence against him in criminal proceedings: Provided, finally, That such
document or information shall be admissible in evidence in civil proceedings including
those arising from or in connection to the implementation of this Act.

SEC. 15. Privileged Communication Exclusion. - Nothing in the preceding section
shall compel the disclosure of privileged communication: Provided, That the person who
refuses to disclose the information or produce the document or other material required by
the inquiring officer in relation to the preliminary inquiry being conducted shall
nevertheless be obliged to give the name and address of the firm to whom, or by whom, or
on whose behalf, such privileged communication was made.

SEC. 16. Confidentiality of Information. - Any document or information submitted
by firms, as determined and marked confidential by the DOJ, relevant to any investigation
being conducted pursuant to this Act shall not, in any manner, be directly or indirectly
disclosed, published, transferred, copied, or disseminated,

Any violation of this section shall be imposed the penalty of imprisonment ranging
from three (3) to six (6) years and a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos
(Php 100,000.00) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (Php500,000.00).

SEC. 17. Immunity from Suit. - Any person or firm which cooperates or furnishes
any information, document or data to the DOJ before or during the conduct of the
preliminary inquiry that constitutes material evidence as determined by the DOJ under this
Act shall be immune from any suit or charge including from affected parties and third
parties: Provided, further, That any person or firm which cooperates or furnishes
information, document or data to the DOS in connection to an investigation being conducted
shall not be subjected to any form of reprisal or discrimination: Provided, furthermore, That
such reprisal or discrimination shall be considered a violation of this Act and subjected to
the penalties provided for under Section 9: Provided, finally, That, notwithstanding the
provisions of Section:21 hereof, the firm which cooperates with the DOJ in its investigation
shall be entitled to a reward equivalent to twenty percent (20%) of any monies paid by the
firm subject of the inquiry, or the monetary relief recovered from court action.

Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution for persons and firms who
reported to the Department of Justice with malicious information, data and falsified
documents which is damaging to the business and integrity of the persons and firms under
inquiry. Such act shall likewise be considered as an unfair trade practice punishable under
this Act.

SEC. 18. Termination and Action on Preliminary Inquiry. - ‘The Department of
Justice, after considering the statements made, or documents or articles produced, in the
shall terminate the preliminary inquiry by issuing a
s closure if no violation or infringement of this Act is found; or by
issuing a nolo contendere resolution; or issuing a resolution to, singly or cumulatively, (a)
impose penalties in the range provided under Section 9 hereof; (b) order sanctions which may
be imposed by the regulatory and/or appropriate government agency; (c) order the
rectification of certain acts or omissions; or (d) order the restitution to the affected parties.

When determined by the facts and circumstances, the DOJ shall institute a civil
action by class suit in the name of the Republic of the Philippines, as parens patriae, on



behalf of persons residing in the Philippines, to secure treble damages for any injury
sustained by such persons by reason of any violation of this Act, plus the cost of suit and
reasonable attorney's fee.

If the evidence so warrants, the DOJ shall institute criminal cases for violation of
this Act or relevant laws: Provided, That, for criminal prosecution of violations of this Act,
no preliminary investigation shall be required, neither shall a petition for review be made:
Provided, further. That any appeal shall be instituted to a division of the Court of Appeals
exclusively handling competition and consumer protection laws.

SEC. 19. Nolo Contendere Resolution. - Any firm under inquiry under the
provisions of this Act may submit to a nolo contendere resolution at any time before the
termination of the preliminary inquiry by: a) the payment of an amount within the range of
penalties provided for under Section 9; b) by entering into an undertaking to effectively stop
and rectify the acts complained against, make restitution to the affected parties, whether or
not the parties are plaintiffs or witnesses; and, c) by submitting regular compliance reports
as may be directed: Provided, That, ten percent (10%) of the amounts paid under this
section shall equitably accrue to the DOJ and/or regulatory government agencies involved
in the inquiry: Provided, further, That a nolo contendere resolution shall not bar any inquiry
for the same or similar acts if continued or repeated.

SEC. 20. Private Action. - Regardless of the status or pendency of any proceedings,
any firm that suffers injury by reason of any violation of this Act may institute a separate
and independent civil action, irrespective of the amount involved in the controversy against
the defendant or defendants and shall recover treble damages sustained, the costs of suit and
reasonable attorney's fees: Provided, however, That no filing fees shall be collected:
Provided, further, That filing fees shall constitute a first lien in the award of damages.

SEC. 21. Effect of Final Judgment. - Any final judgment in a civil or criminal action
brought by the DOJ on behalf of the people of the Philippines under this Act to the effect
that a defendant has violated any or all of the provisions of this Act shall be res judicata as
to any claim by any person on whose behalf such action was brought: Provided, That such
person notifies the court having jurisdiction of the case within the period given by the court:
Provided, further, That such period shall not be less than ninety (90) days. It shall be prima
facie evidence against such defendant in any civil action brought by any other party against
such defendant under this Act as to all matters respecting which said judgment would be an
estoppel as between the parties concerned.

SEC. 22. Distribution of Damages Recovered. - The damages recovered in a civil
action under Section 19 of this Act shall be distributed in the following manner: (1) as
determined and to be authorized by the Court having jurisdiction of the case; (2) ten percent
(10%) of the total amount of damages shall accrue to the DOJ and or regulatory agency to
be used exclusively in the enforcement of this Act; and, (3) the remainder of which total
amount of damages shall be deemed a civil penalty by the Court and shall be deposited to
the National Treasury as part of the general fund of the government: Provided, That any
distribution procedure adopted by the Court shall give preference to individual consumers
and afford each person having an interest a reasonable opportunity to secure his appropriate
portion of the net damages obtained.

SEC. 23. Measurement of Damages. - Damages may be proved and assessed in the
aggregate by statistical or sampling methods, by the computation of illegal overcharges, or
by such other reasonable system of estimating aggregate damages as the court in its


discretion may permit without the necessity of separately proving the individual claim, of,
of amount of damage to, persons on whose behalf the suit was brought.

CHAPTER 6

OTHER PROVISIONS

SEC. 24. Statute of Limitations. - Any civil or criminal action to enforce any cause
of action arising from a violation of any provision of this Act shall be forever barred unless
commenced within five (5) years afler the cause of action accrues. The running of the
statute of limitation shall be suspended during the pendency of any proceeding.

The cause of action begins to run when the plaintiff suffers injury to its business or
property: Provided, That when the damage suffered by the plaintiff is too speculative to
prove, the cause of action does not accrue until the damage becomes probable: Provided,
however, That if the plaintiffs injury is the result of the continuing violations of this Act,
each independent anti-competitive act may restart the limitation period or when a plaintiff
reasonably fails to uncover a cause or action that was fraudulently concealed by a
defendant.

SEC. 25. Prohibition on the Issuance of Temporary Restraining Orders, Preliminary
Injunctions and Preliminary Mandatory Injunctions. - Except for the Supreme Court, no
other court shall issue any temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction or
preliminary mandatory injunction against the regulatory agency in the exercise of its duties
or functions: Provided, That, this prohibition shall apply in all cases, disputes or
controversies instituted by a private party, including, but not limited to, cases filed by
regulated firms or those claiming to have rights through such firms: Provided, however,
That, this prohibition shall not apply when the matter is of extreme urgency involving a
constitutional issue, such that the non-issuance of a temporary restraining order will result
in grave injustice and irreparable injury to the public: Provided, further, That, the applicant
shall file a bond, in an amount to be fixed by the Court, but in no case shall it be less than
half of the imposable fines! provided for under Section 10 of this Act: Provided, finally,
That in the event that the court finally decides that the applicant was not entitled to the relief
applied for, the bond shall accrue in favour of the regulatory agency.

Any temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction or preliminary mandatory
injunction issued in violation of this section is void and of no force and effect. Any judge
who violates this section shall be penalized by suspension of at least one (1) year without
pay in addition to other criminal, civil or administrative penalties.

The Supreme Court may designate regional trial courts to act as commissioners with
the sole function of receiving facts of the case involving the acts of the regulatory agency.

The designated Regional Trial Court shall, within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of
the referral, forward its findings of facts to the Supreme Court for appropriate action.

SEC. 26. Intellectual Property Rights. - The implementation of the provisions of this
‘Act shall be without prejudice to the rights, liabilities and remedies under Republic Act No.
8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines: Provided, That,
the exercise of intellectual property rights shall not in any way be used to justify violations
of this Act.


SEC. 27. Trade Associations. - Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to
prohibit the existence and operation of trade associations organized to promote quality
standards and safety issues: Provided, That, these associations shall not in any way be used
to justify any violation of this Act.

SEC. 28. Guidelines. - The DOJ, in consultation with the DTI, shall prepare the
necessary guidelines for the implementation of this Act: Provided, That, where the
guidelines would apply to an industry or a sub-sector of industry that is subject to the
jurisdiction of a regulatory agency, the DOJ shall, in preparing the guidelines, consult with
the concerned regulatory agency: Provided, further, That the DO] may revise such
guidelines it deems necessary: Provided, however, That such revised guidelines shall only
take effect following its publication in two newspapers of general circulation.

SEC. 29. Appropriations. - The sum of One hundred million pesos (Php
100,000,000.00) for the initial year of implementation of this Act is hereby appropriated.
Thereafter such amounts as may be necessary for the continuous implementation of this Act
shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).

SEC. 30. Separability Clause. - If any clause, sentence, section or part of this Act
shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not
affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of this Act, but shall be confined in its operation
to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the
controversy.

SEC. 31. Suppletory Application. - For purposes of this Act, the Revised Penal
Code, as amended, and other applicable laws shall be applied in a suppletory character.

SEC. 32. Repealing Clause. - All provisions of law, orders, decrees, executive
orders, including rules and regulations or parts thereof, which are contrary to or inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly: Provided,
however, That all existing competition laws and regulations shall remain in full force ani
effect: Provided, further, That in case of conflict between this Act and such provisions of
existing competition laws and regulations, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.

SEC. 33. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following
its publication in the Oficial Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,