Environmentalist group urge Senate not to concur with JPEPA

Release: 2006-11-27

Concerned citizens, environmentalists, labor groups, peasants, fisherfolk, nationalist economists, social movements, and political parties who collectively form the MAGKAISA JUNK JPEPA coalition trooped to the Senate today to ask the Senate not to concur with the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

"The JPEPA directly assaults our environment, jeopardizes the job security of our workers, and, by eliminating tariffs on almost all goods and services, hampers our ability to pursue national development", said MAGKAISA JUNK JPEPA

"Moreover, the process of negotiating JPEPA is diametrically opposed to basic principles of good governance where the Filipino people, including members of Congress have been denied access to the full text of the agreement during the negotiations thus denying them meaningful participation in crafting this agreement", said the coalition

"By eliminating tariffs on toxic wastes, the JPEPA will make the Filipino people subsidize Japan's export of its waste and garbage to the Philippines, making it cheaper for the Japanese to export their waste to us and make the Japanese environment cleaner, but at the expense of our own environment.", according to the coalition.

MAGKAISA JUNK JPEPA added, "The JPEPA will likewise make the Filipino people subsidize the cost of health care of the Japanese people by allowing them to pay less for the labor of our nurses and caregivers, but not without passing a needle's eye with the strict requirements for language proficiency and licensure exams in addition to the fact that we do not have enough nurses and caregivers to attend to the needs of our own people."

"The JPEPA also compels the Philippines to give equal or better treatment for Japanese investors, Japanese goods, and Japanese services – all contrary to the provisions in the Constitution providing for preference for Filipino capital, labor, goods, and services", maintained the coalition

"Moreover, the JPEPA will ultimately undermine government commitments to reduce poverty as it will effectively prevent the government from providing much-needed support to Filipino micro, small and medium-scale enterprises all pointing out the absence of a sound Filipino economic development policy and environmental policy"

MAGKAISA JUNK JPEPA calls on the Senate to reject the JPEPA. The group likewise calls on all local government units (LGUs) to pass ordinances and resolutions banning the entry and transport of imported toxic and hazardous wastes in their respective jurisdictions, as well as for LGUs, sectors, and civil society organizations to demand prior consultation, as provided in the Constitution and in the Local Government Code, before any national government agency or government-owned and controlled corporation implements any project
that could potentially pollute and harm our environment, and destroy the future of our economy.

"Let us reclaim our dignity as a people, assert our national sovereignty, and claim our right to a future for succeeding generations of Filipinos." said the coalition.