PRESS STATEMENT
31 May 2017

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) stands by its position that Globe and PLDT should not have proceeded with the payment of their final installment on the telco deal, considering pending cases filed before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
Completing the payment for the telco assets is a move that unduly preempts the forthcoming rulings of the SC and CA.

This big ticket deal goes beyond the purchase itself because of its impact on public interest. As with any transaction required to be notified to PCC, the P69.1-billion deal needs to be reviewed through a market competition lens to safeguard consumer welfare over the long term.

While PCC guarantees fair evaluation for every notification, compliance with the law should nevertheless be complete and transparent. Notifications should not be filed merely for the sake of submission.
This telco deal review would have been completed earlier if only the parties submitted the required notification.

The PCC may be fairly new and companies are still adjusting to the regulatory framework of the Philippine Competition Act, but they must strictly adhere to the law. Globe and PLDT should not be exempted.