The Philippine Competition Commission, after facing an initial setback on the telecommunications sector, is launching an inquiry on the cement industry following a complaint from a previous government official.
PCC Commissioner El Cid Butuyan said the agency was keen on pursuing anti-competitiveness complaints if it saw merits on the case.
“There are still some anti-competitive practices present in the (cement) industry. We just recently received the complaint. In fact, it was just days that the complaint was filed. We are looking into this and we’ll take the necessary steps to proceed with the inquiry,” he said.
The law requires the commission to conduct a 90-day preliminary inquiry before launching a full investigation of the case.
It may engage both the private and public sectors in the investigation.
Butuyan declined to disclose the nature of the complaint nor confirm if it had something to do with price manipulation or a cement cartel limiting local volume by bringing in more imports.
The Trade Department’s Bureau of Import Services said total volume of imported cement reached 1.08 metric tons as of July this year.
The department has acted on reports of a disparity in prices across the country and complaints of possible misdeclaration of imports.
It also launched an investigation freight rates from the countries of origin of cement imports to determine the basis for the price increases.
Data showed that freight cost in Taiwan ranged from $18.66 to $23.58; $16.65-$20.02 in Vietnam; and $10 to $20 in China.
The PCC is pursuing anti-competition complaints and reviewing business contracts that affect consumers and other businesses.
Meanwhile, the commission is optimistic of a favorable ruling on the appeal it filed with Court of Appeals, after two telecommunications companies won a temporary restraining order favoring the controversial sale of a telecommunications bandwidth.