Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda has filed House Bill 446 in Congress seeking to amend the statutory definitions of public service and public utility, under the 80-year old Philippine Public Service Act, or Commonwealth Act No. 146.
When enacted, it will open telecoms, transport and power industries to 100 percent capitalization by foreign players.
House Bill 4468, titled “An Act Further Amending Commonwealth Act No. 146, or the Public Service Act, as Amended,” aims to solve the country’s debilitating woes over these three vital industries, which have stalled economic growth for so long.
Salceda said his proposed amendments would clarify the “ambiguities” surrounding the statutory definition of public service from public utility, which had paved the way for oligarchs to monopolize—among others—telecoms, transport and power industries for decades to the detriment of consumers and the country as a whole.
The bill, he added, also seeks to address the “changes in the economic framework brought about by globalization and rapid technological innovations by adjusting the provisions of the law… and enable it to fulfill its purpose of truly serving the public.”
“Consumers often experience high prices and poor quality of basic services in the Philippines, because only a few local players or oligarchs effectively control the market. Competition and foreign investment are inhibited, because limitations that should only apply to the operation of a public utility are usually also applied to all public services,” he pointed out.
Salceda, senior vice chair of the House Economic Affairs Committee, said the situation “is caused by the ambiguity in the definition of public utility that is often used interchangeably with public service under Commonwealth Act No. 146,” and the key to fixing the problem is to develop a clear statutory definition of a public utility by amending the Public Service Act.
