State
think-tank Philippine Institute for
Development Studies (PIDS) presented a framework that would help government in
assessing competition issues and in measuring the impacts of competition
reforms on consumers, businesses, and the economy as a whole. Called the Framework
for Competition Reform (FCR), this methodology is the product of the Competition Reforms in Key Markets for Enhancing Social
and Economic Welfare (CREW) project conducted
by the Institute in partnership with New
Delhi-based Consumer Unity and Trust (CUTS) International and the Action for
Economic Reforms (AER).
Using the FCR, the CREW
project initially looked at competition issues and the impact of competition
reforms in the country’s rice and bus transport sectors. According to PIDS
President Gilberto Llanto, the same framework can be applied in assessing
market competition in other sectors.
“Learnings from this project
would be useful to policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders in
tackling competition issues and in measuring the impact of competition reforms
in other sectors such as retail trade, air transport, as well as banking and
finance,” Llanto explained during a workshop held last March 2 at the PIDS
office in Quezon City.
The completion of the CREW
project is timely given that the country is in the initial stage of
implementing the Philippine Competition Act of 2015, which took 25 years before passing the legislative mill.
The end goal of this law is to benefit consumers with more choices and lower
prices, which are products of market competition.
According to CUTS
International Senior Research Associate Neha Tomar, the CREW project is aimed at fixing the “gap between
knowing the competition law and implementing the same” by providing
policymakers and practitioners a robust evidence-based methodology to
understand the impact and value of reforms. Thus, the FCR is designed to enable
practitioners to map out the variables for producer and consumer welfare, and
determine the impact of reforms.
The CREW project was
implemented in Ghana, India, Philippines, and Zambia, and studied two basic
sectors—staple food and passenger transport.
In assessing the state of
competition in the rice sector, the PIDS project team looked into the major
reforms introduced by government in the sector in view of the imminent
abolition of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice importation. The study
specifically provided evidence of the impact of QR on the domestic price of
rice and on consumer welfare, and did an evidence-based assessment of options for
protecting the interest of rice farmers. These include a proposal to provide
adjustment package upon the abolition of QR in 2017, which is a transfer scheme
over and above the existing production support provided by government.
In 1995, the Philippines was
granted special treatment in rice, which allows the country to set a ceiling on
the amount of rice to be imported over a given period. The ceiling is
determined by the state-run National Food Authority, which has the import
monopoly for rice.
PIDS Senior Research Fellow
and CREW Project Director Roehlano Briones cautioned that the removal of the QR
on rice will result in massive fall in domestic rice prices, hence, it is
imperative to provide farmers a measure for income support.
“The inevitable transition to
a more open rice trade regime should be accompanied by safety nets for
smallholders suffering from intensified competition from imports. We have
evaluated a compensatory transfer scheme combined with a 35-percent tariff
equivalent as a possible support scheme once special treatment is
removed," Briones explained.
For the bus transport sector,
the PIDS study looked at options for consolidating buses as part of a strategy
to decongest Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare—the Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue
or EDSA. These options
include consolidating bus operators into a consortium to bid the right to
operate on a specific route and converting the buses into bus rapid transit
systems. In her presentation, PIDS Consultant Hope Gerochi also enumerated the
benefits, costs, and risks involved in the consolidation strategy, as well as
implications for fair competition, compared to major alternative strategies.
Assessments of the state of
competition in other industries in the country, such as airline, banking and
finance, and retail trade, were also presented during the forum.
In her discussion, REID Foundation President Cherry Lyn Rodolfo, enumerated the positive impacts of
competition reforms on the airline industry. These policies include the
liberalization of air service agreements, which allowed Cebu Pacific to enter
the Hong Kong and Singapore markets, and the passage of Pocket Open Skies,
which opened up secondary gateways to international flights in 2011, and the
recent ratification of ASEAN Open Skies, which allows airlines from all 10
ASEAN member-states to fly freely throughout the region.
According to Rodolfo,
although the Philippines is “still not at the same level of growth as Indonesia
in terms of passenger
carrying capacity of airlines, growth
has been positive since 2009.”
This growth has been achieved
despite major barriers such as poor infrastructure and congestion at the
country’s main airport, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which prevent
international airlines from entering the Philippine market.
Rodolfo also enumerated some
competition issues in the airline industry such as market definition issues,
drip pricing, impacts of code share arrangements, mergers and alliances, lack
of access to essential inputs such as slots and check-in counters, and weak
consumer and users group.
“These are issues that we
believe we have to contend with and try to address because they are limiting
the positive impact that the air transport can make,” said Rodolfo.
She insisted that solutions
have to be holistic and long term. The airline industry would benefit a lot,
she said, from implementing changes, such as having a new organization installed
to oversee functions that should no longer be under the Civil Aviation
Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). She noted that CAAP’s primary concern
should be the safety of consumers.
On the part of the banking
industry, Dr. Alvin Ang of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of
Economics spoke about the sector’s shortcomings in balancing efficiency,
financial stability, and access of firms and households to financial services.
“The banking sector faces a
lot of competition problems like having high barriers to entry and exit.
Lowering these barriers would generally lead to greater product
differentiation, lower costs of financial intermediation, more access to
financial services, and enhancing stability,” Ang explained.
Ang also underscored the problem
of private banks disproportionately outranking the market share of thrift and
rural banks. According to Ang, the top five banks in the country account for 54
percent of the total assets of the banking sector. On top of these, the banking
sector is also concerned with improving financial inclusion and financial
literacy.
Ang commented that it is
necessary to undertake reforms to liberalize the financial markets not just to
promote the domestic banking industry but also to prepare Philippine banks to participate
and compete in the integrated ASEAN regional financial system. Currently, no
Philippine bank has qualified to be an ASEAN bank, shutting them out from
accessing a larger market.
“Philippine banks are among
the smallest in the ASEAN in terms of asset. The Development Bank of Singapore, for example, is
bigger than the entire Philippine banking system,” he added.
Lastly, Dr. Roberto de Vera
from the University of Asia and the Pacific enumerated the competition concerns
of the retail trade sector, including the need to develop and empower small and
medium enterprises for a more inclusive market and more vibrant competition.
CUTS Associate Director Rijit
Sengupta wrapped up the seminar affirming the importance of evidence-based
research behind every competition-related change. “The Philippines has shown
great interest and strong intent in solving its competition issues. Thus, the
Philippine Competition Commission will find no shortage in partners from the
academe, industries, regulatory bodies, and civil society to convey the message
that competition will be promoted in every level of the economy without fear or
favor,” he concluded. (PIDS)
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