Philippine Senate prepares to shoot down FTA with Japan
Japan Times | Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
’CONSTITUTIONAL DEFECTS’
Philippine Senate prepares to shoot down FTA with Japan
MANILA (Kyodo) — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign to persuade the Senate to ratify a landmark free-trade agreement with Japan is looking increasingly hopeless, a Filipino lawmaker has admitted.
Miriam Santiago, who chairs the Senate committee conducting a public hearing on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, said the Senate will likely send the treaty back to the executive for renegotiation because it is "riddled with constitutional defects."
Santiago invited a panel of constitutional experts during a public hearing Monday who argued the treaty may be "unconstitutional on several grounds."
"Virtually, if we go by the objective of analysis of these independent experts, the JPEPA is dead," she said. "What we can do in this case is send back the treaty to the executive branch . . . for renegotiation, for amendment or additions or exclusions."
Quoting the experts, Santiago voiced concern that the pact as it now stands could violate the "nationality provisions" of the Philippine Constitution wherein certain areas of business, trade and industry are reserved for Filipino citizens or only for corporations controlled by Filipinos.
Santiago also cited a Supreme Court ruling on the need for the government to comply with provisions in the Constitution on the protection of the environment.
"That’s the problem. It’s not only one ground that you can discuss but several of them," she said. "If you don’t get it declared unconstitutional on one ground or one provision, there are still several other provisions you have to contend with. That’s why I am very, very worried about the fate of the JPEPA, even at committee level only."
Santiago, an Arroyo ally in the Senate, said she "dreaded" the thought of the treaty as it now stands reaching the Senate floor.
"The majority in the Senate belongs to the opposition, and the series of (committee) hearings have provided the opposition senators very strong ammunition," she said.
Opposition Sen. Mar Roxas shared Santiago’s observation, saying "It’s possible that we recommend that it be renegotiated."
It is "replete with constitutional infirmities that would be indefensible," he said.
Arroyo’s team launched a high-profile public relations blitz in August to urge the Senate to ratify the JPEPA, but that move has apparently failed.
To give the pact impetus, Arroyo created an interagency task force Sept. 28 that was to "act with resolve and urgency" for ratification.
Santiago’s committee has held five hearings to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of the treaty, which would eliminate tariffs on all goods and services traded between the two countries.
As far as Santiago is concerned, however, the issue of constitutionality "is the most basic, fundamental priority in all these hearings."
The Senate must approve the accord, which was concluded Sept. 9, 2006, before it can come into effect.
