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By Efren L. Danao Senior
Reporter
THE Senate has no authority to
send the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)
back to President Arroyo for renegotiation, said Sen. Miriam
Defensor Santiago, chairman of the foreign relations committee.
Santiago said the Senate’s
options are limited to ratifying or rejecting the treaty.
She was responding to calls by
some senators to send the JPEPA back to Malacańang.
Sen. Pia Cayetano said, “It
took negotiators three months to reach an agreement. We are willing
to wait three more months so the flaws and unfavorable provisions
could be corrected.”
Cayetano sponsored a forum at the
Senate with the Junk the JPEPA Coalition where panelists lambasted
the treaty as full of legal flaws, saying it is disadvantageous to
Philippine industries, labor and agriculture.
Lawyer Merlin Magallona, former
dean of University of the Philippines Law Center, said that under
the JPEPA, President Arroyo had committed to eliminate tariffs on
practically all Japanese products within 11 years from the date
agreement comes into force.
He contended that this violates
the Constitution, which stipulates that all bills on tariffs and
revenues should originate from the House of Representatives.
“Congress can delegate to the
President, by law, to fix within specified limits, tariff rates,
export-import quotas and wharfage fees,” he said. “The President
is usurping congressional authority and is exercising power beyond
delegated authority.”
He also said that JPEPA’s
clause on nondiscrimination of imported products would put local and
foreign products on equal footing.
Dr. Leah Paquiz, national
president of the Philippine Nurses Association, questioned the
provision requiring Filipino nurses in Japan to pass the Japanese
licensure examination in Nihongo language within three years or else
be sent back.
All who pass will get the monthly
pay equivalent to P87,000, the same as that received by Japanese
nurses. Paquiz said that while they have not yet passed the
licensure test, Filipino nurses would be treated as nursing aides.
She also questioned why JPEPA
requires all applicants for caregiver to have a bachelor’s degree
when the Philippine government does not require this.
Cayetano was the only senator who
attended the forum of the Junk the JPEPA Coalition. She said that
she was initially concerned with the health and environmental
aspects of JPEPA, but proceeded to expand the forum to cover all
aspects.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said he
would prefer to hear first why JPEPA should be ratified before
listening to those who are against it. He also said that concerns on
environmental degradation emanating from the treaty were
“overblown.”
Earlier, Defensor said that as a
trade agreement, JPEPA is at par with other international treaties.
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