Business groups urge Marcos to push for economic reforms

• Business groups and foreign chambers of commerce sought President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s support for 21 bills pending in Congress

• Three of these measures are related to the transportation sector

• These are the amendment of the Philippine Ports Authority charter, enactment of the International Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act, and creation of a Philippine Airports Authority

Business groups and foreign chambers of commerce sought President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s support for 21 bills pending in Congress, three of which are related to the transportation sector.

These are the amendment to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) charter, enactment of the International Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act, and creation of a Philippine Airports Authority (PAA).

“With one year left in the current Congress, we believe that the 21 measures are achievable reforms that will generate substantial impact in achieving our shared vision of inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness,” the twelve business groups and foreign chambers of commerce said in a letter to Marcos.

“We will continue to work with Congress and your administration in support of these remaining reforms as we look forward to your third State of the Nation Address (on July 22),” the letter added.

The group includes American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc.; Association of International Shipping Lines, Inc.; Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc.; Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc.; Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines; European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines; Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Inc.; Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines; Makati Business Club; Management Association of the Philippines; Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Inc.; and Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc.

The measure seeking amendment to PPA’s charter will transfer ports under its jurisdiction to a separate public sector entity “to improve safety and efficiency” and address the issue of conflict of interest.

Industry stakeholders and business groups have for years recommended the separation of PPA’s functions, citing conflict of interest and saying exercising both functions “unnecessarily increases logistics costs.”

Two bills in the Lower House seek to separate PPA’s functions. House Bill No. 1400, filed by Bagong Henerasyon party list representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy, and HB 8055, filed by Quirino lone district representative Midy Cua, aim to convert PPA into Philippine Ports Corporation (Philports) and transfer its regulatory function to the Maritime Industry Authority. Both are pending with the Lower House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization.

Last June, 12 business groups—including most of those that signed the latest letter to Marcos—also requested Senator Mark Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises, to file a counterpart bill for HB Nos. 1400 and 8055.

READ: Biz groups seek Senate bill splitting PPA regulatory, commercial functions

The group is also supporting enactment of the International Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act, which it said will strengthen oversight functions of government agencies over international shipping lines that impose local charges.

There are four bills in the Senate and Lower House seeking enactment of the International Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act, which aims to, among others, strengthen the oversight function of relevant government agencies over the imposition of local charges by international shipping lines. The bills seek to address the longstanding issue of “excessive and unreasonable” shipping charges imposed by international shipping lines.

These bills include SB 2147 and HB Nos. 4933, 7999, and 10507. All are pending at the Committee level, except HB 10507, which was filed just last June and is up for first reading.

The group also calls for enactment of a bill that will create PAA to regulate and operate all airports. Senate Bill No. 1073, which seeks to create the PAA, is pending at the committee level. It aims to “untangle” the conflicting functions of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines by creating a separate entity—which will be PAA—that that would focus solely on the planning, construction and operation of airports.

READ: Foreign chambers seek Senate ok of airport reform bills

Other priority bills include the following:

• Liberalization of Foreign Equity Restrictions in the Constitution – Amendment is sought to the economic provisions of the Constitution to remove foreign equity restrictions.
• Konektadong Pinoy Bill – Seeks to lower barriers and cost to entry for data service providers, promote sharing of infrastructure and efficient use of resources, and lower internet costs for Filipinos.
• Promotion of Digital Payments – Mandates the use of safe and efficient digital or electronic mode of payments by all national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, and local government units.
• Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and Philippine Economic Zone Authority Act Amendments for Hybrid/Flexible Work Schedules – Amendments are sought to allow locators greater flexibility in setting work from home arrangements.
• Freedom of Information Act – Provides the parameters and mechanisms for citizens’ access to information in all government offices.
• Capital Income and Financial Taxes Reform – Seeks to simplify taxation of passive income and financial transactions, harmonize tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gains, and rationalize the documentary stamp tax to reduce costs and improve compliance.
• Secrecy of Bank Deposits Law Amendments – Allows the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, in the exercise of its supervisory powers, to examine, inquire, or look into deposits under certain conditions related to unlawful activities.
• National Unemployment Insurance – Institutionalizes a National Unemployment Insurance Program to protect workers from income loss due to job loss by providing unemployment benefits while they seek new employment.
• Department of Disaster Resilience Creation – Creates a Department of Disaster Resilience which will be given the mandate to lead in the planning, coordination, monitoring, oversight, and implementation of disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and management.
• E-Commerce Act Amendments – Updates the Electronic Commerce Act to align with treaty obligations and international best practices for electronic signatures, contracts, communications, and documents.
• Pandemic Protection Act – Aims to prevent the overburdening of the health care system, develop health care and manufacturing, create jobs during pandemics, ensure supply of critical products, protect consumers, and build partnerships with the private sector.
• Holiday Rationalization Act – Rationalizes the number of non-working holidays comparable to our neighboring Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and reduce business cost.
• Intellectual Property (IP) Code Amendments – Updates and modernizes the IP code to comply with treaty obligations and adopt international best practices.
• Philippine Pension System Portability and Strengthening – Strengthen the Philippine pension system, including its portability, to allow employees to grow their pension fund even if they change employers.
• Apprenticeship Program Reform – Further reforms the current apprenticeship program to make it more attractive to both enterprises and prospective apprentices.
• Agricultural Land Ownership Easing – Increases landholding ceiling on agricultural land from 5 hectares to 24 hectares and eases restrictions and rationalizes the process on agricultural land transactions.
• Commonwealth Act 138 (FLAG Act) Repeal – Repeal is sought to remove the 15% domestic preference in awarding contracts for construction or repair of public works.
• Satellite-based Technologies Promotion Act – Eases regulatory requirements for the use of satellite-based internet technologies to connect unserved and underserved communities.