Senator Ma. Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal said last week that business interests who will benefit from the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) are lobbying senators who are presidential hopefuls in the 2010 national elections to ratify the one-sided treaty.
BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 40, November 11-17-2007
Senator Ma. Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal said last week that business interests who will benefit from the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) are lobbying senators who are presidential hopefuls in the 2010 national elections to ratify the one-sided treaty.
The anti-JPEPA lawmaker came out with this expose’ at the launching of No Deal! JPEPA, Movement against Unequal Economic Agreements at the Claro M. Recto Hall, UP Diliman in Quezon City last Nov. 9.
Delivering a five-minute solidarity message to the public launching of the anti-JPEPA, anti- unequal economic pact coalition, Sen. Madrigal urged those present to closely monitor pro-JPEPA pressure groups which are aggressively intensifying their campaign for the Senate to ratify the Japan-RP economic pact.
“Groups who will benefit from JPEPA are potential funders for the May 2010 elections. So, you must apply pressure to those who will run for president in the next elections to defeat this unilateral move of the executive to violate the economic independence of the Filipino people,” Madrigal told anti-JPEPA groups and personalities who attended the coalition’s launching.
Madrigal lamented that after five Senate hearings, the government until now has failed to justify JPEPA. She said the Senate committee on foreign relations led by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago will most likely recommend the rejection of the treaty, but pro-JPEPA senators might bypass the committee report and instead vote for the ratification of the agreement if they have enough numbers.
Accepting the challenge of Sen. Madrigal is the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya or National Unity of Fisherfolk Movements in the Philippines), warning senators with presidential ambitions in 2010 that they would face rejection of the Filipino people if they vote for the ratification of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.
Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap, also one of the convenors of the broad anti-JPEPA coalition No Deal! JPEPA, Movement against Unequal Economic Agreements said his group is closely watching the political positioning of senators reportedly running for president less than three years from now.
“Their vote for JPEPA is a kiss of death. That’s not a slogan. That’s a concrete political warning to all politicians seeking the highest elective post in the land in 2010. We will campaign for their rejection if they insist in pushing this economic monster against the will and collective interest of 88 million Filipinos,” the Pamalakaya leader.
Hicap urged Senate President Manuel Villar and Senator Mar Roxas, two of the current leading presidential candidates to state their true position on JPEPA. The Pamalakaya leader also asked other probable presidential candidates what is their respective stand on JPEPA.
“Let us all be aboveboard here. We cannot play the usual merry-go-round guessing game. After five Senate hearings, the government failed to convince the Filipino public about the merits of JPEPA. The senators’ only option at this point is to bury this economic treaty six feet under,” he added.
Pamalakaya agreed with opposition Senator Jamby Madrigal that certain pro-JPEPA elements in the business sector are engaged in active lobby work, pressuring the presidentiables and other re-electionist senators to approve the modern-day parity rights agreement in favor of the Japanese owned transnational corporations.
“Potential funders of the May 2010 presidential elections, and who will benefit from JPEPA, are now making their presence felt in covertly and overtly. Big business groups obsessed with the Japan-RP trade pact have joined Malacañang in campaigning for the ratification because the present administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is suffering from chronic crisis of extreme credibility,” the group said.
The 80,000 strong fisherfolk alliance predicted that Japanese tuna investors will gain at least P 43 billion ($1,004,907,688 at an exchange rate of $1=P42.79) in total profits in tuna trade, while local tuna producers will face the consequence of losing P 18 B ($420,650,032) in industry profits once JPEPA becomes a treaty.
Pamalakaya said a single 3,000-gross ton Japanese factory ship is capable of harvesting 50,000 metric tons of tuna a year or 150 metric tons of tuna per day. Based on industry standards, a single factory ship could earn as much as $ 32.5 million in gross profits from the sale of skipjack tuna (50,000 metric tons x 65% yield x $1,000 landed price per ton in Japan).
Pamalakaya said the bulk of the profit will come from the remaining 35 percent of the 50,000 metric ton tuna catch, which is $ 210 million ( 50,000 metric tons x 35% x 80% meat yield x 1,000 kgs. x $ 15 per kg).
“A single medium size factory ship thus will earn $242.5 million a year, and since Japan at the very least, employs four factory ships in its regular tuna fishing expedition per country, we expect them to earn a total of $ 970 million or P 43.5 B per year,” the group said.
Pamalakaya said the devastating impact of JPEPA to the local tuna industry include the loss of 100,000 jobs provided by the local tuna fishing companies in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City and the Davao regions.
At present the local tuna industry yearly produces 400,000 metric tons of tuna, 15 percent of the production goes to domestic market and 85 percent are for exports. The European Union accounts 40 percent of the country’s fresh and canned tuna exports or roughly 64,000 metric tons per year. The rest of the exports are shipped to tuna markets of Japan and the United States.
Pamalakaya said efforts of local tuna producers to upgrade their operations to world class standards will be put to waste once Japanese factory ships invade the country’s tuna rich fishing waters courtesy of the one-sided agreement.
“The gains the Philippine government would derive from JPEPA in the form of taxes and profit sharing would be minimal compared to what Japan will get from this economic pact. The fisheries, particularly the tuna aspect of JPEPA is meant for the survival of Japan’s tuna industry to the detriment of Filipino tuna producers,” the fishers group said.
According to Pamalakaya, the entry of Japanese factory ships to Philippine waters, including the country’s excusive economic zones is guaranteed under JPEPA as provided in Articles 28 and 29, Section 2 of JPEPA which covers the Rules of Origin and the manner by which goods are obtained by any party like hunting, tripping, fishing, gathering, capturing, goods produced on board factory ships, sea-fishing and from the seabed or subsoil.
The group said under Article 88, every kind of asset owned and controlled directly and indirectly by a Japanese investor which includes factory ships and fishing vessels shall be maintained by the investor,as well as the right to operate the same through lease or by any other form of arrangement.
“It may include a situation where a Japanese owned entity will merely secure a fishing contract from the Philippine government,” Pamalakaya said.
The anti-JPEPA group said article 93 of the agreement allows Japanese fishing investors to invest in deep sea fishing and prohibits the Philippine government from requiring Japanese investors to hire Filipino fish workers, stops the government from setting a quota or certain volume for export and from requiring certain percentages of domestic content in products produced.
Under the same article, Japanese owners of factory ships will not be required to source fuels, supplies and raw materials from the Philippines. It also prevents the government from setting conditions for transfer of technology.
Potential funders?
While the No Deal group was having their public launching at the UP Diliman campus, a group of pro-JPEPA business groups led by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) called a hastily-staged press conference in Makati City to renew their call for the ratification of JPEPA.
Donald Dee, PCCI President said business groups were anticipating the benefits from JPEPA, adding that the cost of not ratifying the treaty and the resulting trade and investment diversification are quite high for the country.
Quoting data from PCCI-backed think tank group Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade (U-Act), Dee said the JPEPA would translate to increased exports of between $ 988.61 million to $ 1.4 B for the four sectors namely automotive, semiconductor, furniture and garments.
As for job creation, Dee said the U-Act predicts a yearly growth rate of 20 percent, representing the jobs to be created by JPEPA or about 100,000 to 150,000 additional jobs for the same number of workers.
“Are we hearing the potential funders of the 2010 presidential elections?” Pamalakaya’s Hicap asked. Bulatlat
