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GROUPS
opposing the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic
Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) expressed alarm over the
alleged “shrinking democratic space” at the Senate
hearings.
The
group members belonging to the Magkaisa Junk Jpepa
Coalition (MJJC) said that despite an invitation for
them to attend and take part in the hearings, Sen. Mar
Roxas, chairman of the Committee on Trade and Commerce,
is allegedly not asking them to speak up, keeping them
on the sidelines and as mere observers of the hearings.
Considering that for the most part of the Jpepa
hearings, the senators have lauded civil-society groups
for the substance of their arguments and preparedness
for the hearings, the civil-society representatives are
worried because they were being “silenced.”
“We are
not second-guessing the basis for Senator Roxas’s
decision. But when he allows one party unimpeded
opportunity to promote Jpepa, at the same time slamming
the brakes on civil society’s right to rebut, there
arises fundamental questions of fairness,” said Josua
Mata of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, a member of
the coalition.
“We
cannot sit idly by when we see our rights being squeezed
before our very eyes,” he said.
The
group, in a letter addressed to Senator Roxas, raised
the point that certain issues will certainly not be
discussed by the pro-Jpepa panel because of its clear
violation of law and inconsistencies with basic national
policies.
Among
the issues being overlooked, according to the MJJC, is
the failure of the Philippine government negotiators to
ensure that Japan commits to remove trade-distorting
export subsidies for agricultural and industrial goods.
Eight
hearings have been conducted by the Senate so far on the
Jpepa.
The
first five hearings covered the issues of investments,
economics, environment and toxic waste, movement of
natural persons, and its constitutionality. These
hearings were chaired primarily by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
with Roxas acting as cochairman.
The
Jpepa hearings were initially set for only five;
additional hearings were included at the request of
Roxas. During the initial five hearings both government
and civil-society resource speakers were given equal
opportunity to present their positions and air counter-
arguments.
“The
government panel has had more than enough chances to
prove its case on the Jpepa, and it has continuously
failed to do so,” said Ester Perez-de Tagle,
representing the Concerned Citizens Against Pollution
and the EcoWaste Coalition.
“The
powers that be should not play games with the Jpepa
hearings. The hearings cannot drag on indefinitely
hoping for the government panel to salvage what is
unsalvageable, nor should it be conducted in an unfair
manner to the detriment of civil society,” she said.
The MJJC
also expressed its utmost concern and dismay over the
Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement, covering trade in goods and services,
investments and development cooperation, which, like
Jpepa, was negotiated in secrecy with zero public
participation. |
