SEN. Pia Cayetano on Wednesday said President Arroyo should
not pressure the Senate into ratifying the Japan-Philippines Economic
Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) once Congress resumes sessions this month.
"Instead she should be castigating her own government panel
for doing a lousy job in securing the best possible agreement for our people,"
Cayetano said.
Arroyo early this week appealed to the Senate to ratify the
JPEPA, saying that otherwise, Japan will take its investments to other countries
with whom it has existing trade agreements.
Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate committee on environment,
disagreed.
"Anyone attending the hearings on JPEPA would have concluded
that this agreement has so many loopholes and that the government panel
miserably failed to secure terms favorable to Filipinos," she said.
"I appreciate the efforts of Japan's representatives to
explain and assure us of their good intentions. But it is not Japan's job to
look out for our interest; that is the job of our negotiating panel. And as I
have said, they have failed to do that."
She said her rejection of JPEPA would send a strong message
to future trade negotiators that ratification by the Senate is not a mere
formality. "We cannot be forced to accept a substandard agreement. It is our
constitutional duty to scrutinize these agreements and if necessary, reject any
agreement that does not meet the highest standards," she said.
Arroyo said JPEPA will bring in from P6.5 billion to P110
billion, with projected direct investments from Japan amounting to P365 billion,
and more than 200,000 jobs. She said the agreement would reduce poverty because
tariffs on Philippine agricultural products would fall to zero. She also allayed
fears that the Philippines would be a dumping ground of Japan's toxic wastes,
pointing out that Japan has signed a side agreement assuring the Philippines
that it would not export toxic wastes.
Several environmental groups have lauded the stand of
Cayetano and Sen. Jamby Madrigal against the ratification of JPEPA. They also
challenged the other senators, particularly those who included environment
protection in their election platform, to make the same stand.
"We find the recent statements on JPEPA by Sen. Cayetano and Sen. Madrigal
very reassuring as we consider them as voices of Mother Nature in the Senate,"
Dr. Angelina Galang of the Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment
and Sustainable Economy, said. "The voting on JPEPA will be a grand revelation
of who among the senators are true patriots who have the well-being of the
people and country at heart and others whose mindsets contribute to the
continued destruction of the environment." - JP Lopez
