PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Raoul Angangco, Sylvette Y. Tankiang, Kristin Charisse C. Siao and Ma. Carla Mapalo, Villaraza & Angangco
decision. A non-confidential version may also be furnished to such persons as the PCC considers appropriate and published on the PCC website for public information. 5.7 Prohibitions and Remedies for Foreign-to-Foreign Transactions To date, there have been no published decisions where the PCC required remedies or prohibited foreign-to-foreign transactions. 6. Ancillary Restraints and Related Transactions 6.1 Clearance Decisions and Separate Notifications There is no requirement for separate notifica - tion of ancillary restraints. The assessment of the PCC of a transaction is holistic and, there - fore, looks at all the provisions of and mecha - nisms in the agreement embodying the trans - action, including ancillary restraints, if any. The PCC is not prohibited from reviewing or includ - ing in its decision any related arrangements or agreements imposing ancillary restraints if these arrangements or agreements will likely substan - tially prevent, restrict or lessen competition in the relevant market. 7. Third-Party Rights, Confidentiality and Cross-Border Co-Operation 7.1 Third-Party Rights In relation to a review, the PCC has the power to require production of documents or informa - tion from third parties and consult them in the process of reviewing commitments. The PCC may contact third parties, such as customers, suppliers or competitors, by means of market
calls or enquiry letters in order to obtain relevant information regarding the market, their views on the merger, any competition issues it may raise and how they will be affected. Third parties may also include other governmental entities, secto - ral regulators, industry associations, consumer bodies, think-tanks, market research firms or centres for information, among others. 7.2 Contacting Third Parties Since the PCC was recently established, it often contacts third parties in reviewing transactions to gather information about the relevant market and the possible effects of the transaction. 7.3 Confidentiality The decision of the PCC on a transaction subject to compulsory notification is made public. When publishing a decision, the PCC provides a sum - mary of the transaction, subject to the parties’ claims of confidentiality. Commercial information may be subject to claims of confidentiality. Such a claim must be substantiated – ie, it must be accompanied by a detailed explanation why particular parts of the accompanying submissions should not be disclosed. Additionally, a non-confidential ver - sion should be provided at the same time as the original submission. The PCC may share the non-confidential ver - sions of submissions with the merger parties or third parties. Unless there is a claim of confi - dentiality, it will be presumed that none of the information contained in a party’s submission is confidential. The following classes of informa - tion, however, are not generally considered to be confidential by PCC: • the fact of the merger itself;
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