ISDS Case Map
Philippines
Despite the submission of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) for Senate ratification in the Philippines, some quarters are of the opinion that under the Tariff and Customs Code this bilateral economic deal can be considered an executive agreement and therefore does not need Senate ratification.
The main argument against ratifying JPEPA is not only that it would turn the country into Japan's landfill, but that the pact is blatantly unfair against the Philippines.
The RP-China agricultural agreement, for example, provides China with the capability to produce food using Philippine territorial lands and waters.This would inevitably mean massive displacement of peasants from their lands, and the crops to be planted are not for Filipino consumption but for export to China.
A major labor group on Thursday called on the Japanese government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to step into a row between two Japanese groups in the development of a property in Japan owned by the Philippine government.
Instead of addressing the longstanding issues of health workers such as inadequate
pay, poor working conditions and lack of opportunities in the Philippines, the JPEPA
will only give another reason for the government to push with its labor export policy
as a measure to boost the economy through strong remittance flows.
JPEPA is undoubtedly beneficial -- for big Japanese corporations and elite corporate interests in the Philippines, not for the Filipino people.
Independent think-tank group IBON Foundation scoffed at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's call for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to conclude a regional free-trade agreement with Japan despite strong protests against the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
A multi-sectoral group has renewed its opposition to a bilateral trade agreement between the Philippines and Japan by calling on the Philippine Senate not to ratify the deal when it opens session on Monday.
A Philippine Marine captain on trial for the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny wants to file graft charges against officials involved in the forging of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
The Norkis Trading Co. has filed a notice to cease its production and assembly operations of Yamaha motorcycles in the Philippines due to the zero-tariff policies of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. Hundreds of highly-paid workers will lose their jobs.
