ISDS Case Map
Philippines
The Philippine government has used the annual entry of 400 Filipino nurses and 600 caregivers under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) as one of main reasons why the Senate should ratify the free trade accord. Yet foreign nurses and caregivers who want to work in Japan may find working conditions there exploitative or even discriminatory, according to a study.
As Sen. Miriam Santiago advises opposition senators to “love or leave” the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), research group IBON Foundation urges the Philippine Senate to choose the non-ratification of the deal and help reclaim the country's economic sovereignty.
A number of Philippine senators are considering calling for a renegotiation of the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) as a “way out” of the debate over the pact
Filipinos say no to the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement
As proponents of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) continue to warn against the possibility of being left out if the pact is not ratified, the experience of Indonesia shows that its own bilateral deal with Japan has not resulted in increased economic gains.
Senate proponents of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) expect the country's first bilateral free trade deal to finally pass scrutiny in October after a second side pact was sealed to respect Filipino-only provisions in the Constitution.
The multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade), a broad coalition of industry, agriculture, formal and informal labor, NGOs and youth pushing for trade and economic reforms, maintains its stance in the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) that it will not favor the agreement's ratification without renegotiation.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said she would not submit the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) to a Senate vote until after an exchange of notes with Japan has been formally signed and exchanged.
The Philippine government has been making a hard sell on JPEPA -- threatening that a failure to ratify shall be catastrophic to the Philippines, while a ratification of the agreement shall be a big boost to the economy. FairTrade, on the other hand, bolsters its position urging the government to renegotiate the treaty because of the agreement's inherent economic and constitutional questions. The Senate must correct these patently one-sided contents in JPEPA so that it will effectively benefit Philippine industries and the Filipino people. In fact, what the JPEPA proponents have NOT told the Nation is that JPEPA is biased against the Philippines.
Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Thursday said she will ask Senate President Manuel Villar to postpone voting on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) until after a formal exchange of notes that will guarantee the treaty does not violate the Constitution.
