The Philippine government has released an updated Foreign Investment Negative List permitting full foreign ownership of telecommunications companies, provided the investor's home country grants Filipinos equivalent rights — otherwise, foreign equity is capped at 50%, raised from the previous 40% ceiling. The update, formalised under Executive Order No. 113 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., reflects a 2022 amendment to the Public Service Act that reclassified telecoms as a public service rather than a public utility, also opening airlines, railways, and shipping lines to greater foreign participation. Economists caution that the revised list amounts to regulatory housekeeping rather than a transformative shift, warning that deeper structural issues such as weak rule of law, high operating costs, and inadequate infrastructure must be addressed before the changes are likely to drive a significant rise in foreign direct investment.