Roxas, underwhelmed by JPEPA hearing

Sen. Mar Roxas, the Senate Trade committee chairman, was "underwhelmed" by the JPEPA hearing last September 14. This is what he said:

"I am 'underwhelmed' by the presentation of the government that, to my estimate, kung ngayon ang botohan ay di papasa ang (if voting was held today, it would not pass) JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement)."

Roxas told the Department of Trade and Industry and other key government agencies to provide a clearer and more definitive presentation of JPEPA’s benefits and its detriments to the country not only for the trade aspect but also to the other element of the treaty such as investments, labor and environment.

"All negotiations are all about give and take, and it is the government's duty to make its case here. Since they negotiated the treaty, they ought to know the data and provide us with the big picture of this give-and-take," he said.

He added that sectors to be affected must be identified and that the necessary measures to mitigate the suffering of these sectors must be threshed-out.

"Nais nating maunawaan talaga ito, kung ano ang benepisyo sa atin kumpara sa benepisyo na makukuha naman ng bansang Hapon. Marahil ay malinaw sa kabilang panig kung ano ang interes nila sa agreement na ito. Ano naman ang maliwanag na pambansang interes natin? Ito ang inaasahan naming masagot ng ating mga trade negotiators (We really want to understand this, on what the benefits are to us compared to benefits Japan will get. Maybe the other side is clear what their interests are. What then is our national interest? We were expecting these to be explained by our trade negotiators)" Roxas said.