Aurea Calica
Philippine Star

Sen. Manuel Roxas II is seeking to reform the way the government negotiates international trade agreements to avoid the problems experienced in relation to the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

“Let’s be frank about it. I’m not too happy with the results of JPEPA. I feel we could have gotten more. We could have negotiated better. But I wasn’t part of the negotiations, and we will never know,” he said over the weekend.

“We got a marginally advantageous treaty, but its non-passage means risk to our industries and our workers. Even if we want a perfect agreement, we will really be left behind if we do not ratify the treaty that is now before us. These dilemmas shouldn’t have existed in the first place,” Roxas stressed.

Roxas, co-chairman of the joint committee on JPEPA, has  filed Senate Bill No. 252 to create the Philippine Trade Representative Office to improve government negotiations on international agreements.

“Our future trade deals must also be considered in light of the recent collapse of the Doha Round in the WTO (World Trade Organization) talks. We will see an increased emphasis on regional and bilateral trade pacts. We should beef up our negotiating prowess and our people should be consulted more closely about these,” Roxas said.

“JPEPA was a lesson for all of us, and we know that the structure of our trade agencies at present make them ill-equipped to handle these negotiations on top of their present mandates. The problems we need to fix are from as simple as getting the facts accurate — unlike what happened during the Senate hearings to as fundamental as ensuring that all trade agreements are in favor of our people,” he noted.

The proposed PTRO will be headed by a  Philippine trade representative holding a fixed six-year term. The official’s task would be to coordinate and hold consultations with all stakeholders to determine the country’s international trade policy, and to represent the country in all trade agreements.

An inter-agency committee will also be created to assist the PTRO. The committee will be headed by the Philippine trade representative and composed of officials  of the Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic Development Authority, Department of Agriculture and other agencies.

JPEPA is now being deliberated at the Senate plenary. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairperson of the foreign relations committee, and Roxas have recommended conditional concurrence to the agreement citing provisions that are violative of the Constitution.

A side agreement will be signed with Japan to correct the constitutional infirmities, Santiago said.