RP exports to Japan up 5.9% to $5.35B as of July
By Ronnel Domingo
Published in the September 28, 2008 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
MERCHANDISE EXPORTS to Japan grew by 5.9 percent to $5.35 billion in the seven months to July while critics of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, which is pending in the Senate, said the deal remained unconstitutional despite remedial steps by Tokyo and Manila.
Also, the Japan External Trade Organization cited data from the Ministry of Finance which show that imports from Japan increased by 15.5 percent to $6 billion.
In the comparative seven-month period, Japan’s surplus on trade with the Philippines reached about $665.4 million or about six times the amount seen in the same period last year.
As of end-July, shipments from the Philippines accounted for 1.2 percent of Japan’s total imports valued at some $441.2 billion.
Also, Japan’s merchandise cargoes sent to the Philippines accounted for 1.3 percent of Japan’s total exports of $470.4 billion.
In July alone, exports to Japan increased by 8.3 percent to $791.7 million compared to the same month in 2007.
In the same month, imports from Japan went up by 19.1 percent to $910.9 million, pegging Japan’s surplus on trade with the Philippines at $119.2 million.
Meanwhile, the multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance lambasted Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago for recommending a simple Senate concurrence to Jpepa after an “exchange of notes” between the foreign ministries of the Philippines and Japan.
Santiago meant that “the notes had adequately resolved the constitution flaws of the Jpepa - which she had previously made as a reason for the Senate to stop deliberations on ratification - simply because of (Tokyo and Manila’s) shared understanding of the interpretation of Jpepa,” the FTA said in a statement.
“With all due respect, the Exchange of Notes is but a piece of paper, as it is ineffectual and inadequate in curing the constitutional flaws in Jpepa,” the group said.
FTA maintains that the Jpepa, as currently worded, gives theJapanese rights to full ownership of Philippine lands, unhampered exploration and development of Philippine minerals and other resources, unrestricted access in the management of Philippine public utilities and mass media, and equal treatment in the exploitation of Philippine territorial waters - all of which the constitution does not allow.
FTA said the exchange of notes expressly provides that it “does not modify the rights and obligations of the parties under the provisions of the Jpepa.”
“The Exchange of Notes is not an agreement between the parties and is not considered an integral part of Jpepa,” FTA said. “Clearly, this failed to cure the anticharter provisions of Jpepa.
“We call on the Senate to defer any further hearing or deliberation on the Jpepa until the treaty is truly (corrected),” FTA said. “We push for a genuine renegotiation, not a defective and ineffectual exchange of notes.”
