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THE
Senate foreign relations committee is ready to endorse
for plenary vote the controversial Japan-Philippines
Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) when Congress
reconvenes in August after getting an assurance on the
Japanese government’s willingness to comply with the
Philippine Constitution’s provisions affecting the Jpepa.
Sen.
Miriam Santiago, foreign relations committee chairman,
told reporters on Tuesday that after months of
negotiations, “the Japanese ambassador has agreed to all
our basic demands so that there would be no question of
constitutionality with regards Jpepa.”
She
predicted that “Jpepa will pass Senate concurrence by
August of this year.”
“Just
before my birthday [June 15] the Japanese ambassador,
perhaps in a desire to cultivate RP-Japan friendship,
gave me a birthday present and wrote down what could be
the content or the substance of a potential exchange of
notes,” the senator said.
“After
the Senate concurs with the Jpepa, the Senate will then
direct that there should be an exchange of notes between
the two governments involved, so that certain provisions
of the Jpepa that have been the concerns of the
protestors and objectors who appeared during my public
hearing can be clarified,” she added.
According to Santiago, “the first clarification is there
shall be no violation of our Constitution with respect,
for example, to health and ecology [addressing the
question of pollution], national treatment—meaning to
say that Filipinos and Filipino companies should be
given preferential treatment—and with respect to other
provisions of a similar nature that tend to favor
Filipinos or Filipino firms.”
In other
words, she added, “there are provisions in our
Constitution that are not squarely addressed by Jpepa.
My great fear was the moment Senate concurs with Jpepa,
the objectors would run to the Supreme Court and
question its constitutionality.
In an
interview with Senate reporters, Santiago reported that
“the Japanese ambassador has indicated that he is
amenable to an exchange of notes that he will sign, on
authority of
Tokyo,
where we shall enumerate what constitutional provisions
are specifically exempted from the application of the
Jpepa.”
Santiago
expects her fellow senators to lift their objection to
the ratification since even Senate Minority Leader
Aquilino Pimentel Jr. had already indicated agreement
with her plans to proceed with a plenary vote on Jpepa
as soon as Congress reconvenes sessions in July. She
expressed confidence that all administration senators
will concur with her committee report endorsing Jpepa,
but admitted she did not expect that even the minority
leader will accept the compromise offer from the envoy
of the Japanese government. “That is why I think there
is no more problem in Jpepa.” |
