Miriam freezes action on JPEPA

BY DENNIS GADIL

SEN. Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday pre-empted a debate on the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) by deferring, on her own, plenary discussions on its ratification.

Explaining her decision, Santiago, foreign relations committee chair, said many senators requested for more time to study the subject.

"Our senators are not ready to discuss the JPEPA," she said, adding that the senators still lacked "technical knowledge" of the treaty.

She said instead of sponsoring the committee report's floor approval, she will distribute a hardbound copy of the treaty this week "written in layman's language."

Santiago said her fellow senators are unfamiliar with the term "conditional concurrence."

She said the term is often used in the United States to refer to a package of reservations, understandings, and declarations that become a common attachment.

Santiago also cited the request of the Department of Foreign Affairs for more time as another reason for deferral while "exploring" the proper exchange of notes between the country and Japan to address perceived constitutional and environmental loopholes in the agreement.

She said DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo is working on this exchange with Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura.

The notes, if ever, will be presented to the Senate as an integral part of JPEPA during the plenary debate on concurrence," she said.

Santiago's panel has recommended conditional concurrence, and insisted on compliance with 15 conditions to meet provisions of the Philippine Constitution.

She said that in a nutshell, the Philippines is merely asking for the same concessions that Japan has already granted in its economic partnership agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, and Indonesia.