Group says new fertilizer aid tied to JPEPA
Group says new fertilizer aid tied to JPEPA
By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer
09/07/2007
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO-The National fishermen’s alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas has voiced out suspicions that the timing of the release of a P125-million fertilizer grant from the Japanese government was “closely linked” to the approval of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
In a statement, Pamalakaya Chair Fernando Hicap said the Japanese government was using the fertilizer project as “propaganda” to convince the Senate to ratify the JPEPA.
One-sided
Hicap called the JPEPA a “one-sided economic treaty,” describing it also as a tool for “Japan’s second invasion of the Philippines.”
“[The fertilizer grant] is part of the promotional blitz for JPEPA. The Manila government is making a big issue out of this strings-attached deal to [convince] the Senate as a ratifying body that the local economy will gain much from JPEPA and that Japan will flood the country with more economic aid once the controversial economic pact is ratified,” he said.
The Japanese Embassy in Manila announced on Monday that it had shipped 15,607 metric tons of fertilizer worth 300 million yen or about P125 million under its 30-year grant assistance program for poor Filipino farmers.
The final shipment, 5,000 metric tons in all, arrived via the Port of Iloilo on Aug. 28.
Japanese vessels
The embassy had said the shipment was intended for farmers tilling two hectares or less in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Cagayan, Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Camarines Sur, Albay, Negros Occidental and Iloilo.
Pamalakaya’s opposition to the JPEPA concerned its Section 3’s Articles 28 and 29 which state that the government would allow Japanese vessels in marine bodies exclusively reserved for Filipino fishermen.
Hicap said these “grossly violate the country’s national sovereignty and patrimony to the highest order.”
