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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Urgently needed' New Public Service Act measure up for Duterte's signature--solon

'Urgently needed' New Public Service Act measure up for Duterte's signature--solon

Published Mar 2, 2022 11:26 am

House Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson and AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin is hopeful that the proposed New Public Service Act will soon be signed into law by President Duterte.

This, after the measure was transmitted to the Office of the President for enactment last Monday, Feb. 28.

“I really hope it will be signed into law by the President at the soonest, especially since we’re entering a peak election season. We really need this to jumpstart the investment climate in the country,” said Garin, an economist.

The amendments contained in the New Public Service Act will make it so that telecommunications; railways; expressways; airports; and shipping industries will be defined as “public services", thus allowing up to 100 percent foreign ownership in these sectors.

The measure's aim is to attract potential foreign investors.

Meanwhile, electricity distribution, electricity transmission systems; petroleum products, petroleum transmission; water pipeline, distribution, sewage pipeline systems; seaports; and public utility vehicles (PUVs) will remain “public utilities", capping out foreign investments in these industries at 40 percent.

She speculates that if enacted, Philippine Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) would increase by P299 billion in the next five years and that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate would increase by 0.47 percent above the average.

Garin explains that this act is urgently needed given the present global situation.

“I have long maintained that the New PSA is a key measure that will aid the country’s economic recovery and will not be a threat to patrimony just if we liberalize the public utilities sector... We are not only facing a long journey towards recovery for many industries, but the geopolitical situations of some of our trade partners are precarious due to inflation and war. We need to actively seek more ways to get our economy going,” she concluded.

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foreign investment House of Representatives Public Service Act Sharon Garin amended
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