Article 37Supplement v1, p. 37

COMMERCIAL LAWS SUPPLEMENT

CHAPTER VII ENFORCEMENT

Section

31. Fact Finding; Preliminary Inquiry. – The

Commission, motu proprio, or upon the filing of a verified

complaint by an interested party or upon referral by a

regulatory agency, shall have the sole and exclusive

authority

to

initiate

and

conduct

a

fact-finding

or

preliminary inquiry for the enforcement of this Act based

on reasonable grounds.

The Commission, after considering the statements made,

or documents or articles produced in the course of the

fact-finding or preliminary inquiry, shall terminate the

same by:

(a) Issuing a resolution ordering its closure if no violation

or infringement of this Act is found; or

(b) Issuing a resolution to proceed, on the basis of

reasonable

grounds,

to

the

conduct

of

a

full

administrative investigation.

The Commission, after due notice and hearing, and on

the basis of facts and evidence presented, may issue an

order for the temporary cessation or desistance from the

performance of certain acts by the respondent entity, the

continued

performance

of

which

would

result in a

material and adverse effect on consumers or competition

in the relevant market.

If the evidence so warrants, the Commission may file

before the DOJ criminal complaints for violations of this

Act or relevant laws for preliminary investigation and

prosecution

before

the proper court. The DOJ shall

conduct such preliminary investigation in accordance

with the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The preliminary inquiry shall, in all cases, be completed by

the Commission within ninety (90) days from submission

of the verified complaint, referral, or date of initiation by

the Commission, motu proprio, of the same.

Except as provided in Section 12(i) of Chapter II of this Act,

no law enforcement agency shall conduct any kind of

fact-finding,

inquiry

or

investigation

into

any

competition-related matters.

Section 32. Relationship With Sector Regulators. – The

Commission shall have original and primary jurisdiction in

the

enforcement

and

regulation

of

all

competition-related issues.

The Commission shall still have jurisdiction if the issue

involves both competition and noncompetition issues,

but the concerned sector regulator shall be consulted

and afforded reasonable opportunity to submit its own

opinion and recommendation on the matter before the

Commission makes a decision on any case.

Where

appropriate,

the

Commission and the sector

regulators

shall

work

together

to

issue

rules

and

regulations to promote competition, protect consumers,

and prevent abuse of market power by dominant players

within their respective sectors.

Section 33. Power to Investigate and Enforce Orders and

Resolutions. – The Commission shall conduct inquiries by

administering oaths, issuing subpoena duces tecum and

summoning witnesses, and commissioning consultants

or experts. It shall determine if any provision of this Act

has been violated, enforce its orders and carry out its

resolutions

by

making

use

of

any

available means,

provisional

or

otherwise,

under

existing

laws

and

procedures including the power to punish for contempt

and to impose fines.

Section 34. Confidentiality of Information. – Confidential

business information submitted by entities, relevant to

any inquiry or investigation being conducted pursuant to

this Act as well as any deliberation in relation thereto,

shall

not,

in

any

manner,

be

directly

or

indirectly

disclosed, published, transferred, copied, or disseminated.

Likewise, the Commission shall, to the extent possible,

subject

such

information

to

the

confidentiality

rule

provided

under

this

section

when it issues notices,

bulletins, rulings and other documents: Provided., That

the confidentiality rule shall not apply if the notifying

entity consents to the disclosure, or the document or

information is mandatorily required to be disclosed by

law or by a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction

or of a government or regulatory agency, including an

exchange.

The

identity

of the persons who provide

information

to

the

Commission

under

condition

of

anonymity,

shall

remain

confidential,

unless

such

confidentiality is expressly waived by these persons.

Any violation of this provision shall be imposed a fine of

not less than one million pesos (PI,000,000.00) but not

more than five million pesos (P5,000,000.00).

Section 35. Leniency Program. – The Commission shall

develop a Leniency Program to be granted to any entity

in the form of immunity from suit or reduction of any fine

which would otherwise be imposed on a participant in an

anti-competitive agreement as provided in Section 14(a)

and 14(b) of this Act in exchange for the voluntary

disclosure of information regarding such an agreement

which satisfies specific criteria prior to or during the

fact-finding or preliminary inquiry stage of the case.

Immunity from suit will be granted to an entity reporting

illegal anti-competitive activity before a fact-finding or

preliminary inquiry has begun if the following conditions

are met:

(a) At the time the entity comes forward, the Commission

has not received information about the activity from any

other source;

(b) Upon the entity’s discovery of illegal activity, it took

prompt and effective action to terminate its participation

therein;

(c) The entity reports the wrongdoing with candor and

completeness

and

provides

full,

continuing,

and

complete cooperation throughout the investigation; and

(d) The entity did not coerce another party to participate

in the activity and clearly was not the leader in, or the

originator of, the activity.

Even after the Commission has received information

about the illegal activity after a fact-finding or preliminary

inquiry has commenced, the reporting entity will be

granted leniency, provided preceding conditions (b) and

(c)

and

the

following

additional

requirements

are

complied with:

(1) The entity is the first to come forward and qualify for

leniency;

(2) At the time the entity comes forward, the Commission

does not have evidence against the entity that is likely to

result in a sustainable conviction; and

(3) The Commission determines that granting leniency

would not be unfair to others.

Such program shall include the immunity from any suit

or charge of affected parties and third parties, exemption,

waiver, or gradation of fines and/or penalties giving

precedence to the entity submitting such evidence. An

entity cooperating or furnishing information, document

or

data

to

the

Commission

in

connection

to

an

investigation being conducted shall not be subjected to

any form of reprisal or discrimination. Such reprisal or

discrimination shall be considered a violation of this Act

subject to the sanctions provided in this Act.

Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution for

entities that report to the Commission false, misleading,

or malicious information, data or documents damaging

to the business or integrity of the entities under inquiry as

a violation of said section. An entity found to have

reported false, misleading or malicious information, data,

or document may be penalized by a fine not less than the

penalty imposed in the section reported to have been

violated by the entity complained of.

The DOJ-OFC may likewise grant leniency or immunity as

provided in this section in the event that there is already a

preliminary investigation pending before it.

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