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SENATE
President Manuel Villar indicated on Tuesday that
alleged “constitutional infirmities” in the
Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa)
will likely derail early ratification of the
controversial accord, despite last-minute assurances
from Tokyo that the Jpepa would not be misused to dump
toxic waste here.
At the
same time, an independent think tank asserted that
Philippine trade deals with Japan and China, which
President Arroyo recently urged members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act on, will
weaken the country’s “already damaged domestic economy.”
According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, benefits
to the Philippines from a pact with these economies are
doubtful, while more liberalization will weaken the
local agriculture and industry sectors.
On the
Jpepa’s legal flaws, Villar was reacting to a position,
aired at a Senate roundtable forum by former dean Merlin
Magallona of the University of the Philippines College
of Law, that the Jpepa, among others, may represent a
constitutional breach in the separation of powers
between the executive and legislative branches, as well
as in provisions allowing the entry of Japanese
investments in supposedly exclusive economic zones and
the exploitation of marine resources reserved
exclusively for Filipinos.
For
instance, Magallona cited Malacañang’s commitments in
the Jpepa to eliminate tariff on all imports from Japan,
saying this “usurped” congressional authority granted by
the Constitution which provides that all tax laws must
originate from the House of Representatives.
“This
will suffice to show . . . a breach in the separation of
powers,” Magallona said, pointing out that “powers of
Congress were included in the treaty-making powers of
the President.”
Sought
for comment, Senate President Villar hinted to reporters
that such infirmities could make it easier for members
of the treaty-ratifying Senate to come to a decision
rejecting ratification of the accord. But he added that
Sen. Miriam Santiago, who chairs the foreign relations
committee, has already asked Malacañang to resubmit the
Jpepa so the Senate could start ratification hearings
soon.
“That
will give us additional reasons to consider rejecting
the Jpepa,” Villar said in Filipino, referring to the
constitutional infirmities cited by Magallona. “Of
course, [if there are] constitutional infirmities, we
cannot approve or ratify that. Or, that could be a gray
area. That’s where we’ll have problems,” he said.
At the
same time, Sen. Pia Cayetano-Sebastian, who sponsored
the roundtable forum, said the country could survive
with or without the Jpepa.
She
conceded, however, that the Philippines may be hobbled
by economic setbacks if the Senate rejects the accord.
In
separate interviews, Villar,
Santiago
and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. agreed
that the ratification hearings cannot cure the legal
defects in the accord signed by Manila and Tokyo last
year and that senators would simply vote to ratify or
reject the agreement.
Sen.
Joker Arroyo added that there was no way the Senate
could ratify the treaty if it suffers from legal
infirmities as pointed out by Dean Magallona. “We cannot
amend the Jpepa anymore. If it contains provisions
contrary to our laws, it could not be enforced here,”
Senator Arroyo told BusinessMirror.
Still,
Villar said the Senate ratification hearings will review
and verify all the legal, as well as environmental,
concerns raised about the Jpepa before it is put to a
floor vote that will require two-thirds, or 16 senators
voting in favor, to ratify.
“Let’s
look at it first, but if it’s a violation of the
Constitution, how can that be cured?” Villar told Senate
reporters, adding, “unless the treaty is amended—but
then again,
Japan
is not willing to do that.”
Villar
also noted reports that some Palace officials are now
floating the position that the Jpepa is an executive
agreement that does not need to be ratified by the
Senate, warning that senators will not take this sitting
down. “I have been reading newspaper reports of people
floating the possibility that the Jpepa won’t be sent to
the Senate because [supposedly] it’s just an executive
agreement. That’s unacceptable to us.”
Villar
said the senators will challenge this if Malacañang
insists there is no need to submit the Jpepa for
ratification. “Of course, we will consult Sen. Miriam
Santiago, but we are ready to go to the Supreme Court on
this issue because we see this as a treaty, and not an
executive agreement.”
Meanwhile, the private think-tank IBON asserted that
Philippine trade deals with Japan and China, which
President Arroyo recently urged members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act on, will
weaken the country’s already damaged domestic economy.
According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, any
benefits the Philippines may gain from a pact with these
economies are doubtful while more liberalization will
further weaken the local agriculture and industry
sectors.
Taking
alone the Asean Free Trade Agreement’s Common Effective
Preferential Treatment (CEPT) scheme as an example, the
Philippines’ average applied preferential tariff rate as
of 2001 is only 3.87 percent, lower than the 6.7-percent
average applied tariff rate under the World Trade
Organization. Roughly 99 percent of the country’s tariff
lines are already included in the CEPT scheme.
Tariff
reduction under the CEPT scheme allowed cheap imported
vegetables from the US, Australia, New Zealand, the
Netherlands, Singapore and China to flood the Philippine
market, growing from 42,000 metric tons in 1995 to
115,000 MT in 2000. More liberal import policies also
resulted in thousands of metric tons more smuggled into
the country.
The
petrochemical, cement, steel, garments/textile, footwear
and ceramics/tiles industries have also felt the adverse
effects of liberalization. For example, many footwear
manufacturers, overwhelmed by cheap imports from China,
have now become mere assemblers of imported shoe parts
or shifted to trading. Shoe industry workers have thus
been laid off or forced to go on rotation status, IBON
said.
Meanwhile, Africa pointed out, the country’s attempts to
penetrate the markets of these major economies are
uncertain. The government is banking on electronics,
considered one of the economy’s “strengths” due to
export revenues from this sector. Electronics products
are also the country’s top exports to
China
and Japan, which on the other hand are among the
Philippines’
top 10 trading partners.
But,
IBON noted, electronics components are also among the
country’s top imports from these countries, reflecting
the inherent lack of technology to support production
and the assembly-type nature of the industry.
According to Africa, China and Japan are pushing for
regional free-trade initiatives because of their rivalry
for economic leadership in the region. |
