Philippines

This chapter examines legal protection for domestic and foreign investors in the Philippine regulatory framework for investment. It looks at reforms that have progressively been introduced to enhance the transparency and predictability of investment policies, along with the progressive liberalisation of investment restrictions. Both domestic and foreign investors now benefit from key protection provisions under domestic law and international investment agreements. Particular attention is given to the regime for expropriation, as well as to the reform efforts made to protect intellectual property rights and to improve the access of foreign investors to land. The adjudication of investment disputes, including investor-state disputes, and Philippine investment treaty practice, including its relation with emerging ASEAN practice, are also addressed. The ongoing review of the existing investment treaties of the Philippines offers an opportunity for further modernising and harmonising Philippine investment policy.

This chapter provides an overview of the responsible business conduct landscape in the Philippines, outlining the actions the government of the Philippines has taken to regulate, facilitate, promote, cooperate on and exemplify responsible business practices. It also provides recommendations for how the climate for responsible business conduct in the Philippines can be further enhanced with a view to promoting high quality investment and sustainable development.

The Philippine economy has sustained strong growth despite a general slowdown in the global economy. Fuelling this expansion were remittances, direct foreign investments, a robust business process outsourcing industry and the resurgence of manufacturing. We also attribute this positive outcome to the economic reforms implemented in the past six years. Improving transparency in government, the easing of red tape and regulations, and the creation of industry policies that encourage healthy competition, have also helped establish a sound investment climate in the Philippines.

The Philippine economy, one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia, is placing increasing demands on existing infrastructure networks. Although levels of public spending on infrastructure have historically been low, this trend is being reversed, together with growing openness to private participation and greater competition in infrastructure markets. A programme for public-private partnerships (PPPs) was launched in 2010 and the authorities aim to accelerate its roll-out, notably by establishing a PPP Centre and planned amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law. Nonetheless, persisting gaps remain in terms of policy implementation, infrastructure regulation and effective investment attraction in key sectors. This chapter examines the current context of infrastructure development in the Philippines. It reviews the recent reforms to boost infrastructure investment, including to enhance private participation in infrastructure, and the remaining obstacles to improving the legal and institutional framework for private investment in infrastructure.

This chapter reviews the competitive landscape in many sectors in the Philippines and discusses the importance of the new Competition Act for providing greater contestability of markets. It suggests some areas to consider in the implementing regulations which will accompany the new Act.

This chapter assesses the performance of the Philippines in promoting itself as a destination for foreign investment. It looks at the role of investment promotion in the overall development strategy, at the institutional structure for promotion, the role of monitoring and evaluation, including of incentives, and of the success of some ecozones in reducing red tape for investors. It also considers how to improve coordination among the many investment promotion agencies and with local government units.

The Philippine economy is currently one of the fastest growing in the region. Both remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI) are at record levels, the business process outsourcing sector is booming, the country is improving in international rankings and has been upgraded by credit rating agencies. Beyond macroeconomic and political stability, these economic improvements are in part the cumulative result of reforms since the late 1980s, notably trade liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation and the breaking up of long-standing monopolies in some key sectors during the 1990s under President Ramos. More recently, the Aquino administration has made efforts to increase transparency, improve public-private dialogue and address corruption, together with liberalisation in the financial and maritime transport sectors and the enactment of the new Competition Act which should create new market opportunities for both domestic and foreign investors. These important reforms should help to sustain the improved performance of the Philippine economy.

This chapter describes major sectoral reforms since the late 1980s and their impact on the overall enabling environment for investment. It then reviews trends in foreign direct investment in the Philippines using a variety of data sources from home and host countries, approvals data and crossborder mergers and acquisitions to provide a full picture of foreign investment patterns. It then looks at key policy reforms covering foreign investment and benchmarks the remaining restrictions against those in other countries.

In 2014 tourism directly contributed PHP 982.3 billion (approximately USD 22.1 billion) to the economy of the Philippines, or 7.8% of GDP. The average growth rate in tourism’s contribution to GDP during the period 2011 to 2014 was 13.1%. It directly supported 4.8 million jobs, accounting for 12.5% of total employment.

Les Philippines ont élaboré un Plan national d’action sur le changement climatique qui définit les grandes lignes d’un programme d’adaptation et d’atténuation pour la période 2011-28. Ce plan d’action dégage sept domaines prioritaires : i) sécurité alimentaire, ii) ressources en eau suffisantes, iii) stabilité écologique et environnementale, iv) sécurité humaine, v) résilience climatique des industries et des services, vi) énergie durable, et vii) renforcement des connaissances et des capacités. Pour chaque domaine de priorité, une chaîne de résultats a été établie, qui décrit les résultats immédiats, intermédiaires et ultimes qui sont attendus, ainsi que les activités, les produits et les indicateurs complémentaires. Même si le Plan d’action prévoit des objectifs à long terme, il est précisé qu’ils ne sont pas fixes et peuvent être ajustés en fonction de l’évolution des circonstances.

The Philippines has developed a National Climate Change Action Plan outlining the country’s agenda for adaptation and mitigation for period 2011-2028. The Action Plan identifies seven priority areas: i) food security, ii) water sufficiency, iii) ecological and environmental stability, iv) human security, v) climate-smart industries and services, vi) sustainable energy, and vii) knowledge and capacity development. For each priority area, a results chain has been developed that outlines the ultimate, intermediate and immediate outcomes as well as activities, outputs and complementary indicators. Although the Action Plan includes long-term objectives, it is specified these are not fixed and can be adjusted if the circumstances change.

While the Emerging Asian region has positioned itself well to weather short-term economic volatility, it is imperative to ensure that the new growth and development strategies of countries in the region do lead to sustainable growth over the longer term. To this end, there must be structural policy reforms to ensure sustained and robust productivity growth, the cornerstone of every nation’s economic growth and competitiveness. The reforms should also target upgrading of economic activities to ensure that the region’s economies can remain competitive participants in global value chains in the face of changing domestic and external conditions.

Employees up to age 60 earning more than PHP 1 000 a month are covered by the basic, earnings-related and minimum pensions. There are special systems for government employees and military personnel.

Employees up to age 60 earning more than PHP 1 000 a month are covered by the basic, earnings-related and minimum pensions. There are special systems for government employees and military personnel.

The Philippine legal system is based on Spanish and Anglo-American law and thus has both civil and common law influences. The Philippines has been a State Party to UNCAC since 8 November 2006. Its criminal bribery offences were externally reviewed under the UNCAC’s Pilot Review Programme. The Philippines has been a member of the APG since 1997.