Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No.__ 3100

Introduced by Rep. Albert S. Garcia

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Constitution, Article XII, Section 19, provides:

"Section 19. The State shall regulate or prohibit monopolies when the public interest so
requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed."

The Constitution provides further:

"Section 22. Acts which circumvent or negate any of the provisions of this Article shall
be considered inimical to the national interest and subject to criminal and civil sanctions, as may
be provided by law."

No less than the Constitution itself mandates the government to regulate or prohibit
monopolies. Protection against price manipulators is an effective way by which the government
can provide people better access to various goods and commodities in the market. By providing
an equal playing field in the business sector, consumers will have an improved access to
affordable and at the same time quality goods.

The Philippine business sector has time and again witnessed how artificial prices in one
of two commodities resulted in the increased prices of primary goods.

This bill aims to regulate trade manipulations and other forms of activities which restrain
free market competition.

—

ip

S/GARCIA


Republic of the Philippines»
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BillNo.__ 3100

Introduced by Rep. Albert S. Garcia

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 House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

CHAPTER 1
TITLE AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known and called the "Competition Act of 2010."

SECTION 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 concentration of economic power in persons who threaten to control the
production, trade, or industry in order to stifle competition, distort, manipulate or constrict the
discipline of free markets, increase market prices in the Philippines; and

(©) 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

SECTION 3. Scope 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 forseeable 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.


CHAPTER 2
SCOPE AND APPLICATION, DEFINITION OF TERMS

SECTION 3. Scope 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 forseeable 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.

s

The Act shall apply to:

(@) all firms as defined in this Act 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.

SECTION. 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 sections 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 ot
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;

(@ 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 include any person, natural or juridical, partnership, combination or
association 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 activi

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;

(© 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 shall 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

() 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

SECTION 5. Cartel - It 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 intemational scale. This shall also include an association by agreement of
firms or sections of firms having common interests designed to promote 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.


I. _ Activities constituting cartel — Activities considered as constituting cartel include,
but are 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;

(©) 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.

I. Prima facie evidence of cartel - 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
simultaneously and unreasonably increase, decrease or fix the prices of their
seemingly competing goods thereby lessening competition in the relevant market
among themselves.

SECTION 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 concemed regulatory agency shall be deemed a monopoly or in a
dominant position


SECTION 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 to 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 practices of bid manipulation.

In 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 time;

(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 seins 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.
.

(@) 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

() 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 differentials:

(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 i
(S) 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.
S
(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 conditi

ms 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.

() 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:

(© Defauiting 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.

SECTION 8. Other Unfair Competition Activities. - The following acts shall be unlawful
acts of unfair competition and shall be punishable under this Act:


(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

SECTION 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 Five Million pesos (Php
5,000,000.00) and not exceeding Twenty-Five Million pesos (Php25,000,000.00) if a natural
person; by a fine of not less than One Hundred Million pesos (Php100,000,000.00) but not
exceeding Two Hundred Fifty Million pesos (Php250,000,000.00) if a firm, and by
imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) years, or both, at the discretion of the court.

CHAPTER 5
ENFORCEMENT

SECTION 10. 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.

SECTION 11. Power to Investigate and 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 making
use of any available means, provisional or otherwise, under existing laws and procedures

including the power to punish for contempt and to impose fines.


SECTION 12. Self-incrimination and Exclusionary Rules. - 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
atising/ fide oF ta Corikection to the implemeniation OfthiS'AGL,

Nothing in this 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.

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.

SECTION 13. 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 DOJ 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.

Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution for persons and firms who reported to
the DOJ 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.

SECTION 14. Termination of Preliminary Inquiry. - The DOJ, after considering the
statements made, or documents or articles produced, in the course of an inquiry conducted by it,
shall terminate the preliminary inquiry by issuing a resolution ordering its 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 (4) 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.

SECTION 15. 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 a nolo contendere resolution shall not bar any inquiry for the same or
similar acts if continued or repeated.

SECTION 16. Independent Civil 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.

SECTION 17. Effect of Final Judgement. - 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.

SECTION 18. Distribution of Damages Recovered. - The damages recovered in a civil
action under Section 15 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 remaitider 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.

SECTION 19. Proof and Assessment 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, or
amount of damage to, persons on whose behalf the suit was brought.

CHAPTER 6
OTHER PROVISIONS

SECTION 20. 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 after 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 plaintiff's 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.

SECTION 21. Prohibition in the Issuance of Temporary Restraining Orders,
Preliminary Injunctions and Other 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 9 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 Jeast 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.

SECTION 22. 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.

SECTION 23. 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.

SECTION 24. 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 DOJ 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.


SECTION 25. Appropriations. - The funding necessary for the implenentation of this
Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).

SECTION 26. 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.

SECTION 27. Suppletory Application. - For purposes of this Act, the Revised Penal
Code, as amended, and other applicable laws shall be applied in a suppletory character.

SECTION 28. 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 and in 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.

SECTION 29. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following

its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,