Protest action against JPEPA
What Senators say about Jpepa

Senator

Jpepa pronouncements

Mar Roxas

still asking the executive branch to provide a "clear presentation" of the gains and disadvantages of Jpepa; safety nets (http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2007-11-12&sec=4&aid=38512); proposed renegotiation (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=93340)

Richard Gordon

hardcore pro-Jpepa; "we should not miss the boat" (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics1_nov9_2007); Jpepa is constitutional (http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/11/11/3085621.htm)

Edgardo Angara

pro-Jpepa, approve now refine later (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/05/yehey/top_stories/20071105top5.html); safety nets; working program on Jpepa implementation (http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2007-11-12&sec=4&aid=38505); Jpepa is constitutional (http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/11/11/3085621.htm)

Miriam Santiago

inclined to recommend renegotiation but still depends on the executive's "point-by-point" rebuttal of the constitutional issues (http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=9973)

Loren Legarda

expressed reservations until specifics on RP exports of zinc, minerals, and wood products to Japan are spelled outhttp://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/09/yehey/metro/20071109met1.html); raised issue on possible impact on industries, cited the case of Ajinomoto (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0905_legarda2.asp) (

Nene Pimentel

will have strong reservations against Jpepa if it will allow the importation of second-hand cars from Japan (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/1112_pimentel1.asp); raised question on benefits to Filipino nurses (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2006/1201_pimentel1.asp); ready to approve Jpepa if Tokyo would commit on toxic waste issue (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0805_pimentel1.asp)

Chiz Escudero

"Jpepa cannot breeze through the Senate precisely because of the manner by which it was conceived". (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0806_escudero1.asp)

Pia Cayetano

raised issues related to environment which will worsen under Jpepa (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0927_cayetano1.asp); proposed back-channel renegotiation (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/1004_cayetano2.asp); "change of notes" on toxic waste issue not enough assurance (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0815_cayetano1.asp)

Manny Villar

"inquired" on the employment prospects under Jpepa (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0828_villar1.asp)

Gringo Honasan

raised concern about foregone tax revenues of around P16.1 B under Jpepa (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/0819_honasan1.asp )

 
An appeal to the Senate to reject the JPEPA

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations call on our Senators to uphold national interest and reject the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA.

After several public hearings in the Senate, we have yet to see credible studies to back up the fantastic claims of the Arroyo administration that the JPEPA will result in economic prosperity for the Filipino people. Rather than economic growth, the agreement is poised to further damage the already crisis-ridden Philippine economy.

We believe that the agreement is grossly lopsided in favor of Japan. The provisions of JPEPA will further reinforce the historically unequal economic relations between the two countries. For example, while removing tariffs for all but two Philippine products (salt and rice), Japan will continue to protect 239 of its own products.

Japan will also gain unhampered access to our nation’s wealth, including our human resources, at the expense of the Filipino people.

  • Job losses are foreseen in the manufacturing and automobile sectors
  • Farmers and agricultural workers stand to suffer even more from contract-growing arrangements with transnational agri-business corporations. Land use conversion will also affect domestic food production.
  • Domestic fisheries sector will have no protection from the entry of Japanese fishing vessels which will be allowed to fish in our waters.
  • The claim that the Philippines will benefit from the agreement via the entry of more Filipino nurses and caregivers to Japan is misleading since the professional standards imposed by Japan are very difficult to achieve. The export of nurses and caregivers also betrays a lack of initiative on the part of the Philippine government to provide domestic employment for its own people.

The JPEPA will not industrialize the Philippine economy because provisions in the agreement limit or do not require technology transfer, local content in products as well as the hiring of Filipinos. On the other hand, special privileges will be given to Japanese investors to the extent of undermining whatever little is left of the country’s sovereignty and patrimony. This includes requiring the Philippine government to virtually insure Japanese firms from any damages that may result from civil unrest.

The JPEPA accords Japan a Most Favored Nation status and gives National Treatment to Japanese investors. Such provisions set a dangerous precedent for bilateral trade agreements with other countries. Surely, other countries would seek the same treatment as Japan, thereby further exposing the Philippine economy to plunder by other foreign powers.

The JPEPA is tantamount to a second “Japanese Invasion” of the Philippines, this time in the sphere of economics. For our own survival, we say “No deal!” with the Japanese government.

Uphold national interest! REJECT JPEPA!

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Fill in the blank the numbers you see.


Louie Santos
mariko ozaki
dr. gene alzona nisp
maritz resol
Nelca Leila Balisado
Leonardo Achilles C.
karl g. ombion
sonny africa
matt niebres
LAURA MOHAR
robert medrano
Noel P. Sabio
dr. geneve rivera
Daniel Lopez
arman perez
Joseph Felix
Daniel August C. Lop
kamille deligente
Jazminda Buncan
 

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Anti-JPEPA activists hold protest at Japanese embassy
Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 13 August 2008

News release │13 August 2008 │Secretariat: 0926-6246061

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Anti-JPEPA activists hold protest at Japanese embassy

Side deal will not protect RP from Japanese economic invasion – NO DEAL!


Activists from various organizations under the NO DEAL! Movement held a protest action today in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila to oppose the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).


The protesters described JPEPA as “Japanese economic invasion” that even the proposed side agreement to address its serious constitutional defects could prevent. Senator Miriam Santiago, chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, endorsed the upper chamber’s ratification of the controversial treaty last week. Her endorsement is based on Japan’s supposed commitment to sign a side deal that will revise the Philippines’ unconstitutional commitments in the treaty.


Assuming that the side agreement does resolve the constitutional issues in the JPEPA, it still does not answer the concerns raised by our small fishers, farmers, workers and small businessmen on the treaty’s impact on their livelihood. It still does not guarantee that the country will not become a large dumpsite for Japanese toxic wastes nor the interests of our nurses and caregivers will be protected. The JPEPA will only deepen the domination of our economy by Japan at the expense of our national development and our people”, said Arnold Padilla, spokesperson for NO DEAL!


To dramatize the group’s opposition to JPEPA, they burned a huge Japanese imperial flag of which the feared effects of the treaty on the country are printed such as “loss of jobs”, “plunder of natural resources”, “toxic wastes” and “surplus products”.


Padilla said that they decided to hold their protest action at the Japanese Embassy to deliver a strong message to the Japanese government that ordinary Filipinos reject the JPEPA with or without a side agreement. “The bottom-line is that we do not see any substantial benefits for our people from the treaty. On the contrary, we expect more economic displacement based on the agreement’s unfair provisions and based on our experience with other similar free trade deals such as the World Trade Organization that destroyed local industries and people’s livelihood”, Padilla argued.


JPEPA is currently pending at the Senate, which needs to concur with 16 votes from its members for the treaty to be in force. Senator Mar Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on trade and Santiago’s co-sponsor of the JPEPA, has asked to defer the debates on the treaty last Tuesday until negotiators from the Philippines and Japan have produced the side agreement.


The anti-JPEPA coalition welcomed this development as it exposed Santiago’s earlier false claims that the ratification of the controversial treaty is “virtually assured”. Padilla said that even the side agreement itself, which Santiago hypes as the cure to the constitutional defects of the JPEPA to ensure its ratification, is facing a lot of issues and problems. “The senators have not even seen this side agreement. No one knows what it really contains and how it can supposedly uphold the Constitution”, Padilla pointed out.


Padilla added that their group will continue to hold talks with individual senators to convince them to vote against the JPEPA. “We need at least eight patriotic senators to resist this invasion”, said Padilla. (END)


Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 August 2008 )
 
NO DEAL! WELCOMES SENATE DECISION TO SUSPEND JPEPA DELIBERATIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Press Statement
August 12, 2008

Reference: Arnold Padilla
Spokesman, No Deal!


We in the No Deal! Movement Against Unequal Economic Agreements welcomes news that Sen. Mar Roxas III moved on Monday for the suspension of deliberations on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) "until further notice" because Tokyo continues to delay the signing of the side agreement demanded by the Senate.

The suspension at the very least gives each senator extra time to think things over regarding JPEPA. This also shows that the JPEPA is not yet a done deal contrary to the earlier statements of Sen. Miriam Santiago. We will make use of this time to convince senators to abandon the unfair JPEPA.

Right now, the senators must examine whether Japan is negotiating with the Philippines in good faith, or whether it has hoodwinked Santiago and the rest of the Senate into believing that a so-called side agreement is in the works to cure grave constitutional challenges to the treaty. Up to now, our Senate sources say, Japan has not made any firm and concrete commitment in the form of a side agreement assuring it will abide by the Philippine constitution.

The Senate must demand full disclosure of the treaty, annexes and the so-called side agreement before it resumes deliberations. Such documents must made available to the public.

The continued refusal of Japan to sign the side agreement that will supposedly "cure" the JPEPA's constitutional defects is an omen of what may befall the country if the Senate concurs with the treaty.

On Wednesday, August 13, organizations under No Deal! will hold an anti-JPEPA protest action in front of the Japanese embassy in Manila. ###
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 August 2008 )
 
Miriam deceiving public, JPEPA battle far from over - NO DEAL!
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 07 August 2008
Senator Miriam Santiago is intentionally deceiving the public by claiming that 15 senators have already approved the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), the NO DEAL! Movement said today.

The anti-JPEPA coalition said that Santiago is referring to the 15 senators who have signed the resolution of the joint committees on foreign relations and trade and commerce so that the JPEPA can move from the committee level to the plenary where it will still be subjected to debates.

"These signatures will not necessarily translate to actual votes for ratification. Hindi pa tapos ang boksing (The fight is not yet over), as Santiago wants the public to believe. Note that of the 15 senators, only two did not express reservation. They will raise these issues during the plenary debates on the JPEPA. Santiago and (Mar) Roxas still need to defend the treaty before plenary", NO DEAL! spokesperson Arnold Padilla said.

Padilla noted that the senators have not even seen a copy of the so-called "exchange of notes" that will supposedly address the constitutional defects of the treaty. "The specific provisions of this exchange of notes must be carefully scrutinized, not only by the Senate but also by the public. We should not simply rely on Santiago's words that it will protect the Constitution", said Padilla.

NO DEAL! vowed to continue its lobbying efforts to convince senators to reject the JPEPA not only because it is unconstitutional but because it undermines the country's economic sovereignty and patrimony. At least eight votes are needed to prevent the treaty's ratification.

On Thursday, convenors and activists from the NO DEAL! coalition trooped to the Senate as Santiago delivers her sponsorship speech for JPEPA's ratification. They were joined by anti-JPEPA advocates from the Philippine Nurses Association and the La Sallian Justice and Peace Commission who trooped to the Senate wearing "No Deal! JPEPA" button pins to show their protest over Santiago's sponsorship of the economic treaty in spite of its serious constitutional defects and the danger it poses on the economy and people's livelihood.

Meanwhile, a group of small and medium tuna businessmen - the Alliance of Tuna Handliners (ATH) based in General Santos City - has also joined the call of NO DEAL! for the Senate to reject the JPEPA. The ATH said that they oppose the economic treaty because it threatens the already weakening tuna industry in the country. (END)
Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 August 2008 )
 
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