9th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List EO

Executive Order No. 98 is grounded on Republic Act No. 7042, also known as the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, as amended by Republic Act No. 8179.
RA 7042 requires formulation of a Regular Foreign Investment Negative List covering investment areas/activities that may be opened to foreign investors and/or reserved to Filipino nationals.
Section 2 expressly links amendment frequency rules to Section 8 of RA 7042, as amended, and to its revised implementing rules and regulations.

The order establishes the need to formulate the Ninth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List.
Executive Order No. 98 provides that the Ninth List replaces the Eight Regular Foreign Investment Negative List.
The order directs that changes to List A reflect updates to the list “pursuant to existing laws” and based on recommendations of concerned agencies.
Executive Order No. 98 frames its purpose around aligning the negative list with changes in law and policy concerning foreign investment areas/activities.

Section 1 provides that only the investment areas and/or activities listed in the Annex are reserved to Philippine nationals.
Section 1 provides that the reserved areas/activities are governed by the extent of foreign equity participation limits shown in the list.
Section 1 establishes that the Annex controls both reservation and the allowed foreign equity percentage thresholds for each covered area/activity.
The Ninth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List is the controlling reference for which activities are restricted to Philippine nationals and which foreign equity limits apply.

Section 1 limits foreign equity participation in the Annex-listed reserved areas/activities to the percentages indicated in the List.
Section 1 makes the foreign equity percentage limits legally operative as the measure of allowed foreign participation for each listed activity/area.
Section 1 ties the reservation regime directly to the Annex and the indicated equity percentages rather than to any other separate standard.
The Ninth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List therefore operates as the rule-setting instrument for both reservation to nationals and restricted foreign participation levels.

Section 2 provides that amendments to List A may be made at any time to reflect changes instituted in specific laws.
Section 2 prohibits amendments to List B more often than once every two years.
Section 2 grounds the List B frequency restriction on Section 8 of RA 7042, as amended, and on its revised implementing rules and regulations.
Section 2 requires that update practices for the lists follow the amendment cadence rules in RA 7042 and its implementing rules.

Section 3 provides that all issuances, orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof that are inconsistent with Executive Order No. 98 are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
Section 3 makes conformity with the Ninth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List mandatory where inconsistency exists.
Section 3 ensures that conflicting prior regulatory frameworks do not override the negative list rules.

Section 4 provides that if any provision of Executive Order No. 98 is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions continue to be valid and subsisting.
Section 4 preserves enforceability of the unaffected provisions even when one part fails constitutional or legal scrutiny.