BritCham key priority bills in PH to be included in SONA

British Chamber Outlines Expectations, Key Priority Bills for the 3rd State of the Nation Address

The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) noted its expectations for the upcoming 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos administration with a key focus on issues and recent efforts to improve the Philippine economy further.

In an interview on July 17, 2024, BCCP Executive Director/Trustee Chris Nelson outlined the key legislative priorities of the British Chamber and remained hopeful for its quick passage, “in terms of legislation, the three bills that we’ve looked to get signed, and we think they’re being close to proclaim, is the Anti-Agriculture Economic Sabotage Act, the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, and Cybersecurity Act.”

The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), chaired by President Marcos, has recently approved the Anti-Agriculture Economic Sabotage Act and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act for passage before the end of the 19th Congress.

During the 2nd SONA, President Marcos noted the Amendment of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act as a key priority legislation to address the challenges in terms of smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartels. Currently, the reconciled version known as the “Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act”, has been ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives while it awaits signing into law.

Having closely worked with the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) to reinforce meat trade relations between the UK exporters and its Philippine counterparts, Nelson is expecting that inflation and food supply are among the key issues that will be addressed at SONA 2024. With inflation posing a downward trend in June 2024 at 3.7%, Pulse Asia survey revealed that 72% of Filipinos identified inflation as the top concern that needs to be addressed by the administration.

“Food supply and the work that we’ve been doing to bring in, particularly meat and pork supplies, I think will be focused in terms of the fight against inflation. And that is obviously going to be an encouragement to investors. This [Philippines] is the second largest market in Asia after China for pork exports from the UK and we have seen continuing strong growth–up by 20% year to date. And that is also helping with the fight against food inflation,” Nelson said.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA), which has now passed both Houses and awaits signing into law, has also gained support from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, businesses, and policymakers–aiming to safeguard the financial industry against cybercrimes. Aligned with this is the support towards Cybersecurity Act which was supported by President Marcos as a priority legislation upon the recommendation of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure Group last November 2023 to promote cybersecurity posture and resilience.

Nelson also echoed the statement of other business groups in support of other key legislation including further liberalization of the Philippine economy and digitalization to promote ease of doing business. “We look at, first of all, the liberalization and ownership. We support all that in terms of higher foreign equity investors. That would be a great encouragement. E-Commerce Act, digital payments, all of this we think will be very highly supportive and will give close signals to foreign investors of movements in the Philippines.”

The British Chamber consistently advocates for the Philippines to become a prime investment destination in the Southeast Asian region for British businesses and overall foreign investors. It looks forward to the 3rd State of the Nation Address to further highlight key economic issues and opportunities for the British business community in the country.