Philippines: Regulator to start Leniency Program

The Philippine Competition Commission will launch its Leniency Program, to encourage whistleblowers to cooperate with the antitrust monitor, on Saturday, January 19.

Those who provide information on price-fixing, bid-rigging, and output restriction will be offered immunity or reduced fines, said Competition Enforcement Office director Orlando Polinar.

“The Leniency Program is similar to a whistleblower program that is designed to offer incentives—such as immunity from suit and reduction of fines—to cartel members who will provide information, confess their participation, and aid the competition law enforcers towards successful investigation and prosecution of cartels,” he told reporters in Quezon City.

The identity of the whistleblowers will be kept confidential and a team will handle information from them, he added.

Under the program, past and present members of cartels who report information such as price-fixing, bid-rigging, output restriction, and market allocation can avail themselves of the benefits.

Full Content: CBN

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