Zubiri prods release of PSA’s IRR: Hidden motives behind the hangup?

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri (Voltaire F. Domingo/ Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday questioned why the much-anticipated law, designed to usher in a wave of foreign investments into the country, remains unenforced to this day.

It has been a year already since Republic Act  No. 11659, which amended Commonwealth Act No. 146 or the Public Service Act (PSA), was signed but it is not being  implemented up to now, Zubiri lamented.

“Why? The implementing rules and regulations have not been released. Hindi pa nilalabas iyong implementing rules and regulations, IRR, nitong batas. Hindi ko po alam bakit,” he said in an interview  over ABS-CBN News Channel.

(Why? The implementing rules and regulations have not been released. They have not released implementing rules and regulations, this IRR, of this law. I don’t know why.)

“Are they delaying for some underlying reason? Why don’t they let IRR go and let it out so that more direct foreign investments can come to the country? Obviously, they are still in a quandary [about] what the implementing rules and regulations are,” he said.

Zubiri pointed out that the executive, particularly the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), is tasked to craft and release the IRR  of the law.

But when this issue was  discussed during the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), he said,  the executive was saying there are still agencies “delayed in giving   their comments.”

“Oh, come on. It’s been a year. They should bring out the implementing rules and regulations already yesterday. They should have brought it out yesterday. Not today, not tomorrow, yesterday,” the Senate leader said.

“And then they’re blaming us that it’s not working, na walang pumapasok na foreign direct investment? Wala na po iyan sa lehislatura. Tapos na kami, ang trabaho namin. We are done.”

(And then they’re blaming us that it’s not working, that there is no foreign direct investment. It’s no longer with the legislature. We’re done with our job. We are done.)

Zubiri stressed that the “ball is now in the executive’s court.”

Once implemented, the law will allow full foreign ownership of businesses in select industries such as telecommunications, airlines, and railways.

Some sectors, however, will remain restricted to total foreign equity, such as public utility vehicles, water, electricity, petroleum pipelines and seaports,  Senator Grace  Poe earlier explained.

Poe, who sponsored the measure as head of the Senate committee on public services,   also asked Neda last month to expedite the release of the PSA’s IRR.

Because of the PSA and other existing laws, some senators argued there  is no urgent need for Charter change since these measures can already address the restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution.

JPV/abc