Fair trade group seeks JPEPA renegotiation
Philippine Daily Inquirer | 09/12/2007
Fair trade group seeks JPEPA renegotiation
By Ronnel Domingo
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate should hold back action on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement and instead go for renegotiation, this time involved affected sectors in the talks, said Quezon Rep. Lorenzo R. Tañada III.
Speaking as a partner-ally of the Fair Trade Alliance, which is against the JPEPA in its present form, Tañada said in a briefing there was no hurry to ratify the treaty.
"Let us look hard before we leap," he said. "Let us not play into the Department of Trade and Industry’s fear factor, pushing us into implementing the JPEPA lest we lose out to our neighbors."
The lawmaker was reacting to statements made by trade officials, who had said ratifying or rejecting the JPEPA meant pursuing opportunities or passing up on them, especially at a time when Tokyo was opening its service sector to foreigners for the first time in history.
Last August, trade undersecretary Thomas G. Aquino—who was the country’s chief negotiator during the JPEPA talks—said Japan has wrapped up similar agreements with Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and was in negotiations with other SEA countries.
Aquino said that without the JPEPA, the Philippines would be left behind because: Philippine exports to Japan would not enjoy preferential tariffs unlike those from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia and even Vietnam; Filipino professionals would not have access to jobs in Japan unlike those from the same countries; the Philippines would not send a "strong positive signal" to major trading partners that it is committed to grow under a more open trading environment, unlike the same countries.
On Wednesday, Tañada urged the Senate to "take cognizance of the concerns of various sectors when it considers the JPEPA.
"Let us not simply take a leap of faith and beat others to the punch just because talks in the World Trade Organization has hit a snag," he said.
"(Let us not commit into this) just because entering into bilateral trade agreements would be the mood of most countries," he added.
