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IN a bid
to resuscitate the seemingly comatose Japan-Philippines
Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), the top guns in
the business and labor sectors signed a joint manifesto
Tuesday urging the Senate to ratify the deal.
Sergio
Ortiz-Luis, president of the Employers’ Confederation of
the Philippines (Ecop) and Philippine Exporters’
Confederation (Philexport), said the manifesto is their
way of showing that the Jpepa, the first bilateral trade
deal to be signed by the
Philippines,
enjoys the strong support of the real players in the
Philippine economy.
Those
who signed the manifesto at the Heritage Hotel were
Ortiz-Luis for Philexport, Ambassador Donald Dee for the
Confederation of Garments Exporters of the Philippines,
Samie Lim of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, Miguel Varela of Ecop, Allan Montano for the
Federation of Free Workers, Ernesto Santiago for the
Semiconductors and Electronics Industries of the
Philippines Inc.; Albert F. del Rosario of the
Management Association of the Philippines, Ambassador
Francis Chua of the Chamber of Commerce of the
Philippines Foundation, Alberto A. Lim of the Makati
Business Club, Nobuo Fujii for the Japan Chamber of
Commerce and Industry-Philippines, Angelito Colona for
the Port Users’ Confederation, Alex Aguilar for the
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Roberto Amores
of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters
Association;
Francis
Monera of Cebu Chamber of Commerce, John Tan of the
Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Inc.), Elizabeth Lee of the Chamber of
Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc., Jesus
Arranza of the Federation of Philippine Industries, and
Roxanne Aquino of the Chamber of Furniture Industries of
the Philippines.
“These
are the real players, real contributors in the
Philippine economy. Most of those who are objecting do
not really have a stake,” said Ortiz-Luis.
In the
joint manifesto, they said that after they weighed the
gains and losses from the Jpepa, they are convinced that
its ratification is in the best interest of the country.
With the
greater East Asian economic integration and evolution of
the global production network, in which
Japan
is a major player, the Philippines, they said, cannot be
left out as a production base for industries such as
automotive, furniture, electronics and semiconductors.
Out of
the economic partnership agreement, they noted these
industries alone can get additional investments of up to
$444 million and generate some 150,000 new jobs as the
Philippines becomes a strategic hub for foreign direct
investments.
The
farmers and fishermen, they added, will also become big
winners because their products will get preferential
duty-free treatment in Japan, while nonratification
could result in their products being slapped with higher
tariffs.
Since
the other Asean countries are forging similar deals with
Japan, the manifesto said failure to ratify the Jpepa
would mean that the Philippines will not get the same
treatment that
Malaysia,
Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei are assured
of.
“Clearly, the gains that the Philippines stands to get
from the economic partnership far outweigh feared losses
foisted by its critics. Jpepa will improve the country’s
business and investment environment and help enhance our
competitiveness as a favorable destination of
investments in Asia. We therefore most respectfully urge
our honorable senators to ratify Jpepa,” the manifesto
read.
Sen.
Miriam Santiago, head of the Senate foreign relations
committee that is hearing the Jpepa ratification, had
said that as things stand now, she might be forced to
remand the document to the Executive department for
renegotiation since there appears to be little support
for it from her colleagues.
The
arguments killing the Jpepa in the Senate are more on
the question of constitutionality of some of its
provisions, including the limit in the foreign ownership
of some industries.
Dee
said, however, there is no need to renegotiate the deal
since what can be done to resolve the constitutionality
problems is to secure a written clarification from Japan
that the deal will conform with the Philippine Charter.
MBC’s
Lim said the fact they are joining the government in
calling for Jpepa’s ratification shows the agreement is
really for the national interest.
Del
Rosario said the manifesto shows the solidarity of the
business sector for the Jpepa as being beneficial in
maintaining the global perception that the Philippines
is an attractive business destination in East Asia. |
