JPEPA mocks Constitution’s economic provisions – Ibon

The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) violates provisions of the 1987 Constitution that promote the “preferential use of Filipino labor, domestic materials and locally-produced goods," militant think tank Ibon Foundation said on Saturday. “The JPEPA’s various provisions on National Treatment in Articles 17 (goods), 73 (services), 89 (investment), 131 (government procurement) prevent the Philippines from actively supporting Filipino producers," Ibon research head Sonny Africa said. He said the agreement also prevents Congress from enacting laws that ensure that the country benefits from Japanese investments. Africa also pointed out that under the JPEPA, the country would be prohibited from enacting measures on local content and local labor requirements and technology transfers. “The JPEPA’s provisions on taxation expropriation also lay the groundwork for legal challenges to future tax measures, effectively protecting the profits of Japanese corporations at the expense of the country’s right to tax all economic activity within its jurisdiction," he said. Africa added the country’s past experience with free trade validates the wisdom of such economic protections guaranteed in the Constitution. “Trade as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) has doubled in recent years. Over that same period, foreign investment quadrupled as a share of GDP, from 4 percent to some 15 percent. And yet joblessness has soared to historic highs with unemployment rates of 11 percent and some 11 million Filipinos either jobless or looking for more work," he said. “The share of domestic manufacturing to GDP has continued to fall to 23 percent, as has employment in the sector to 9 percent, while agricultural deficits have been high and rising since the mid-1990s," he added. He said the provisions in the Philippine Constitution are based on solid historical experience of countries that have reached a stage of industrial or agricultural development, including Japan itself. Yet, he said the JPEPA enshrines a defeatist policy-making and in doing so violates the 1987 Constitution’s vital economic provisions. “The free-trade pact, if ratified, would shut the door to any real industrial development and modernization." - GMANews.TV