JPEPA Economic Invasion:Who Among The Senators Will Be The Collaborators And Patriots?

No Deal!, a coalition of organizations and individuals opposing the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), said that the treaty symbolizes the “second invasion” of the country by Japan, and that senators may choose to be patriots or collaborators in this invasion when they vote on the controversial agreement.

“This invasion could prove to be even more destructive on the economy and people’s livelihood than the Japanese assault during World War II,” No Deal! spokesperson Arnold Padilla said. “So we ask our senators, will they collaborate with the aggressors and participate in the rape of our economic sovereignty and patrimony? Or will they choose to be patriots and fight till the end to defend the national interest?”

The anti-JPEPA coalition noted that the treaty is part of Japan’s grand design to establish a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in East Asia (CEPEA). Japan’s motives in the JPEPA are still essentially the same with its agenda when it invaded countries, including the Philippines, more than six decades ago. Before, they wanted to set up the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, said the group.

No Deal! warned senators that history has not been kind to traitors and collaborators. It cited Jose P. Laurel, who chose to collaborate with the Japanese during World War II, and is known in history as the puppet president of Japan. On the other hand, Jose Abad Santos is regarded in history as a true patriot for choosing to be executed by the Japanese imperial army instead of pledging allegiance to the invaders. “We celebrate and build monuments for our heroes and only have scorn for traitors,” Padilla said.

Senate insiders told No Deal! that the committee report on the JPEPA, prepared by the committees on foreign relations and the trade and commerce, is “almost done” and might be circulated next week. Senator Miriam Santiago, chair of the foreign relations committee, is expected to endorse the report and call for the ratification of the treaty.

“We have been holding bilateral talks with senators through various channels to convince them to say ‘no deal’ to the JPEPA. Our latest count is that five to six senators will likely vote against the treaty,” said Padilla. They include Senators Jamby Madrigal, Nene Pimentel, Manny Villar, Pia Cayetano, Noynoy Aquino, and Chiz Escudero. “We will closely monitor the senators’ position and public statements regarding the deal, as well as report the results of our dialogue with them to the public so that the people will know who will betray the country and who will defend it,” he added.

BEST SAFETY NET IS COMPLETE REJECTION OF THE JPEPA

In contrast to their earlier hyperbolic claims, government negotiators are now at least finally acknowledging that the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) will have adverse effects, hence the need for “safety nets”. But no amount of safety nets will be enough precisely because Japan ’s intention is to create conditions for the maximum exploitation of the Philippines ’ natural and human resources through the JPEPA.

The country’s experience with the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995 also clearly shows that so-called safety nets are only token mechanisms that have completely failed to stop the disastrous effects of free trade. Anti-JPEPA group No Deal! reiterates that the best safety net against the JPEPA is to reject it completely.

The WTO was questioned before the Supreme Court in 1994. Although the high court eventually found the WTO agreement constitutional, the subsequent trade liberalization has had disastrous effects on the Philippine economy, severely damaging local agriculture and forcing millions of Filipinos to go abroad to seek work. The past decade of poor economic performance actually gives the Supreme Court a reason to revisit its arguments in Tañada, et al. vs. Angara , et al. (G.R. No. 118295) of May 2, 1997 .

That the main beneficiaries of trade liberalization are First World corporations is clearly shown by the fact that foreign firms have taken an increasingly larger share of manufacturing sales. Transnational corporations’ share of total manufacturing sales among the country’s top one thousand firms has grown from 56% in 1999 to 75% in 2004.

The negative effects of WTO-mandated trade liberalization on Third World countries has resulted in a breakdown in further trade talks since 2001 as underdeveloped countries are unable to accept the deeper liberalization being pushed by First World countries through the multilateral trade organization.

Thus, countries such as the US , Japan and the EU nations are seeking further liberalization through bilateral free trade agreements such as the JPEPA. These countries are also using such agreements to force countries to accept issues for liberalization such as investment, government procurement and competition policy, which were already rejected at WTO negotiations.

Government negotiators also appeared to have committed a grave abuse of discretion by entering into JPEPA motivated by a stubborn adherence to free trade dogma unsupported by sound scientific studies and economic reasoning. This is why they are having difficulty defending the JPEPA’s benefits before the Senate committee on foreign relations, forcing senators to continue scheduling hearings in a frantic attempt to find a pretext for sending the agreement before the body for ratification.

Indeed, government representatives have continuously played up the benefits to Japanese investors and domestic big business interests while glossing over the adverse effects on millions of Filipino fisherfolk, workers and farmers. This is a gross betrayal of government’s avowed duty to govern for the benefit of the majority.

The economy has only been weakened by free trade agreements such as under the WTO and like the proposed JPEPA. If the government is prepared to truly develop the domestic economy instead of surrender it to foreign traders and investors, then safety nets would not be needed. If it is not prepared, then no safety net will be good enough.

CONVENORS

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Former Senator Wigberto Tañada Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran Rafael Mariano, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Nitz Gonzaga, Kilusang Mayo Uno Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya  Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Jossel Ebesate, R.N., Alliance of Health Workers Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante Clemente Bautista Jr. Kalikasan People’s Network Rechielda Extremadura, Lila Filipina Arman Albarillo, Bayan-Southern Tagalog Roy Velez, Bayan-NCR Ed Cubelo, Toyoto workers union president Sonny Africa, Ibon Foundation Prof. Roland Simbulan, UP Arnold Padilla, spokesperson

AMID RECORD-HIGH OIL PRICES:THINK-TANK RENEWS CALL TO REPEAL OIL DEREGULATION LAW

Drastic measures are urgently needed to minimize the vulnerability of the Philippines to high global oil prices. Independent think-tank IBON Foundation says this includes the immediate suspension and eventual repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law and setting up a mechanism for government control of oil price hikes to ensure reasonable pump prices.

At present, the only measure that the Arroyo regime is implementing to cushion the impact of increasing global oil prices is the automatic tariff mechanism. But this measure only delays oil price hikes and does not ensure fair price adjustments.

As noted recently by the United Nations, the Philippines is among the countries that are most vulnerable to oil price shocks because it is heavily dependent on imported oil. Worse, more than 90% of the local oil industry remains in the monopoly control of giant transnational corporations (TNCs) through their local units Petron, Shell, Caltex, and Total.

The monopoly of these companies has been further strengthened by the Oil Deregulation Law where automatic oil price hikes are allowed. Consequently, oil companies took advantage of the policy, hiking pump prices of all petroleum products by around 535% since the Oil Deregulation Law was first implemented in April 1996.

The Oil Deregulation Law also provided the big oil companies more space to manipulate pump prices. IBON estimates show that since 2000, pump prices are overpriced by as much as P4.55 per liter as oil price hikes were left unregulated.

Unfortunately, the Department of Energy (DOE) could only talk about its “long-term plans” anchored on questionable programs such as biofuels, aside from its tariff adjustment mechanism, when drastic measures are needed by the people urgently.

IBON reiterates its call for Congress to suspend and repeal the Oil Deregulation Law. Only state regulation and control can assure the country’s energy security right now amidst a highly speculative and volatile global oil market.

Complain

DONE: Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel holds the graft complaint against resigned Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. JOAN BONDOC

Bribe

FULL DISCLOSURE: In a privilege speech, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran recounts where, when, how and who offered him a bribe in exchange for his signature on the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed by lawyer Roel Pulido late Friday. JOAN BONDOC

Garcillano, 3 others summoned to Senate wiretap probe

Villegas, Abu, Doble confirm attendance

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:43am (Mla time) 09/06/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Bishop Socrates Villegas, General Efren Abu, retired Armed Forces chief; Rear Admiral Tirso Danga, and former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano will top-bill the hearing on the wiretapping scandal Friday, Senator Rodolfo Biazon said Thursday.

 

At the ongoing Kapihan sa Senado, Biazon said the list also includes lawyer Samuel Ong, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, and former military intelligence agent Vidal Doble Jr.

 

Biazon said only Villegas, Abu, and Doble have confirmed their attendance.

 

He said Danga was expected to invoke Executive Order 464.

LP threatens to go to court over exclusion from House CA

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:22pm (Mla time) 08/31/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Liberal Party is threatening to raise before the Supreme Court the decision of the House of Representatives not to give the party representation in the Commission on Appointments, a member said Friday.

 

Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tañada III, head of the LP contingent in the House, has demanded an explanation from Speaker Jose De Venecia as he threatened to bring the issue to the high tribunal.

 

Oriental Mindoro Representative Alfonso Umali complained how De Venecia allegedly ignored his nomination to the commission by the LP based on the proportional representation for the commission’s membership as provided in the Constitution.

 

In its present composition, the House contingent to the commission has six members from the LAKAS-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats), three from KAMPI (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Partner of the Free Filipino), two from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, and one from the opposition bloc.

 

“We will continue to call the attention of the Speaker and we’ll as for the clear interpretation of the Constitution from him. If he does not agree with us, we will bring it to the Supreme Court,” Tañada said in a phone interview.

 

He specifically questioned why the NPC got two slots in the commission when it has only around 28 members in the House.

 

Umali cited Section 18 of Article VI on the Legislative Department, which created the Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of the Senate as ex-officio chairman, twelve senators, and twelve members of the House of Representatives “on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and parties or organizations registered under the partylist system represented therein.”

 

Following this principle, the 21-member LP in the House should be entitled to one seat in the commission, Umali said.

 

“As it stands, the number automatically entitles the Liberal party to one seat,” Umali said.

 

“A resolution of endorsement signed by the 21 LP representatives and six non-LP members was submitted to Speaker De Venecia, but was ignored,” he said.

 

“The Liberal party believes that it is not a matter of political prerogative of the House Leadership to assign seats to the commission but it is rather a question of constitutional right and guarantee,” Umali said.

 

“Thus, it hereby expresses its disappointment and condemnation over the failure of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. to follow this constitutional mandate of proportional representation for the membership at the Commission on Appointments,” Umali said.

 

But Majority Floor Leader Arthur Defensor is unfazed by Tañada’s threat.

 

“That’s perfectly ok. It’s their right,” Defensor said in a separate interview.

 

Defensor said he had no idea how the House had chosen its contingent to the commission because his task was only to read the names of the nominees in the plenary.

 

“I don’t know, I’ m not the one making nomination. Tagabasa lang ako [I am only a reader],” he said. “I didn’t bother how the leadership determines the allocation of the coalition because there are many parties involved.”

 

Instead of raising this issue on the floor, Defensor advised Tanada’s group to just write Roberto Nazareno, the House secretary-general.

Forum for cases of disappearance

LEGISLATORS VS ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES. Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, and relatives of other victims of enforced disappearance at a forum of the House of Representatives. INQUIRER/JOAN BONDOC

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SAVED. A Korean national covers his face after being rescued with other foreign and local tourists from the El Pueblo Salvador resort in Cavinti, Laguna. The tourists were on their way to see the famous Pagsanjan Falls when strong rains caused waters to rise, trapping them for several hours. INQUIRER/RAFFY LERMA

HELLO CHIZ. Veteran Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago explains her stance against the arguments raised by freshman Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero on the Senate floor regarding the “Hello Garci” scandal. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Veronica Uy at the Senate in Pasay City, Philippines.

LEGARDA BATS FOR DICT. Opposition Senator Loren Legarda talks about her bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology during an interview with reporters just after her speech at the Philippine Internet Commerce Society general membership meeting at the Peninsula Manila in Makati City, Philippines. Interview conducted by INQUIRER.net reporter Erwin Oliva. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania.

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THE EXILE FEELS RIGHT AT HOME: Jose Ma. Sison, founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines, makes a congenial guide for the Inquirer photographer as he toured him in Utrecht, the Netherlands, last April. INQUIRER/ERNIE U. SARMIENTO

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EDITORIAL

Wasted lives

Inquirer
Last updated 01:04am (Mla time) 08/21/2007

There never was a good war nor a bad peace. — Benjamin Franklin

 

If the government is thinking of the greater good of Mindanao and the country, it had better call off the all-out offensive that has been launched by its hawkish generals in Sulu and Basilan. If it has to go after the Abu Sayyaf bandits that killed 14 Marines and beheaded 10 of them, it should conduct small, commando-type operations instead of set battles. Decades of encounters with Moro separatists and bandits have shown that conventional warfare does not work well in Mindanao.

 

Church and political leaders, civic and women’s groups have lamented the waste of lives in Mindanao. The latest to die on the government side were 10 Marines and five junior officers who, reports said, were mowed down “like sitting ducks” by the Abu Sayyaf after they ignored their guides’ advice on what trail to take.

 

What is strange is that, as disclosed by an Army officer on condition of anonymity, the encounter was “considered part of their training in close-quarters combat” and “was just a test mission.” What? Are the generals playing with the lives of soldiers, sending them on “test missions” to find out which tactic will work against the Abu Sayyaf? If this is true, this is the height of callousness and insensitivity on the part of these desk-bound generals.

 

Many lives have been wasted in the all-out offensive against the Abu Sayyaf. And most of the victims have been soldiers in the flower of their youth. Their deaths bring to mind what US President Herbert Hoover said about war: “Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die. And it is the youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.”

 

Actually, no one wins in a war; everyone is a loser. The casualties lose their lives or some of their limbs. Wives become widows; children are left orphans. Their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters all grieve for them. The world of the soldiers’ families is turned upside down.

 

An all-out war is bad not only for the families of the soldiers, but also for the regional and national economy. Senators last week said that an all-out war could cost the government P1 billion a month. Think of what P1 billion could finance to improve the lives of the people in Sulu and Basilan, two of the most underdeveloped places in the South. One billion pesos could pay for more low-cost houses, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and livelihood programs.

 

Joseph Gloria of the Social Watch Philippines-Mindanao last week said that the all-out offensive in Sulu and Basilan is further setting back the eradication of poverty and other Millennium Development Goals in Region 12. He added that in a conflict, the most affected are the children because when wars erupt, people take refuge in the nearest schools and deprive the children of places for their education.

 

Already, 15,000 people have been “affected” or “displaced” by the hostilities in Sulu and Mindanao. The government officials’ terms — “affected” and “displaced” — do not fully convey the depth of suffering and fear of uncertainty that the people affected by the war are feeling. Truly, as writer Arthur Koestler once said, wars consist of only 10 percent action and 90 percent passive suffering. And it is mostly the women and the children, aside from those who die and are maimed at the front, who greatly suffer.

 

As of last week about 9,000 soldiers had been committed to the all-out offensive in Sulu and Basilan. Nine thousand soldiers going after what — 150 or at most 200 — Abu Sayyaf bandits reinforced by some rogue guerrillas belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front. The imbalance of forces is very overwhelming in favor of the government, and yet up to now the encounters have resulted only in the massacre of young officers and soldiers. Clearly, the situation shows again that conventional warfare, set battles will not turn the tide in Mindanao.

 

It is not too late to de-escalate the hostilities. If the Marines have to avenge their slain and beheaded comrades, so be it. But limit their activities to surgical operations that will not affect entire islands. Macho warriors cannot forget the Old Testament maxim of “a tooth for a tooth” and “an eye for an eye.” And it is always easy for generals who stay in the comfort of their airconditioned war rooms to wage war and play with the lives of their men. But the morally courageous stand is to call for the reduction of hostilities and to work for peace.

(UPDATE) Southern offensive splits House opposition

Admin ally seeks Philhealth for slain troops’ kin

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:34pm (Mla time) 08/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu has split opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora said Tuesday.

 

This developed as an administration ally in the lower chamber urged government to provide the families of troops killed in the course of the offensive with full Philhealth benefits to help ease their suffering.

 

Pampanga Representative Arthur Celeste, chairman of the House committee on national defense, said the widows and minor-aged children of the slain soldiers should receive full or lifetime Philhealth benefits, the latter at least until they reach 21.

 

Zamora said the House opposition has yet to sit down to discuss the southern offensive but acknowledged that, while many of them support the offensive against the extremist group, a number of others are against it.

 

“Many of us want [the offensive] continued so that the sacrifice of our soldiers who died will not be in vain. But many are also saying it is not really solving anything,” he told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

 

Zamora himself believes the government should push on with the offensive and put an end to the violence of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

“My view is there is a need to end that problem. It is difficult to declare a ceasefire and go back to the negotiating table without resolving the basic issue. This is supposed to be one country. There are not supposed to be any territories that are not [part of] the Philippines,” he said.

 

“This should be ended immediately. It does not mean kill all those people, but there must be some conclusion to this,” Zamora stressed.

 

After the fighting, he added, the government should return to the region to rehabilitate the place and solve the roots causes of the conflict such as poverty, lack of opportunity and discrimination, among others.

 

Zamora claimed this was how the Estrada administration, in which he served as executive secretary, “successfully” solved the problem in Mindanao.

 

In 2000, then president Joseph Estrada ordered an “all-out war” against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that led to the capture by government troops of major bases of the secessionist group.

 

“Basically, what we did was we made sure that we finished what had to be finished. And for that reason, we were pretty much successful. We got the camps. But after we won the war, we went back and fixed the region,” Zamora pointed out.

 

Like Zamora, Deputy Minority Leader Roilo Golez and neophyte Representative Dan Fernandez, also with the opposition, supported the government offensive.

 

Golez said he was in favor of the military offensives because an “appeasement policy won’t work in the case of the Abu Sayyaf.”

 

Such a policy, he said, would only give the extremists a “respite to regroup, rearm and recruit. But military operations should always be followed by civic action,” he said.

 

For his part, Fernandez said he would have preferred the conflict resolved on the negotiating table had the government not launched attacks.

 

“But since they have already started it, we might as well support the government on this. My only apprehension is the civilian casualties,” the neophyte solon said.

 

Bayan Muna (People First) Representative Teodoro Casiño was consistent in opposing the Mindanao offensive, calling it a “wrong strategy from the start.”

 

“It was a wrong strategy from the start. Erap [Estrada’s nickname] tried it but it didn’t work. The problem is the lives of our soldiers are being put in danger for the wrong strategy [and] for the wrong reasons,” Casiño said.

 

The leftist solon said he felt the military leadership wanted to turn Basilan and Sulu into a training ground, a “live laboratory.”

“I have this feeling that Southcom [Southern Command] wants perpetual war in Sulu and Basilan so they can have training grounds. They were there for training. It’s a live laboratory for Southcom, that’s why they don’t want to end the war there,” Casiño claimed.

 

Explaining his call, Celeste said full or lifetime Philhealth benefits only cover military personnel who have paid 120 monthly contributions or those who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 56.

 

“I urge the national government through an official communication to [Health] Secretary [Francisco] Duque of the DoH [Department of Health] to act promptly and with compassion to help alleviate the mental anguish and financial suffering of the bereaved widows and children of the slain children in Basilan and Sulu conflict,” the lawmaker said in a statement.

 

“This is only a small fitting tribute to honor the soldiers, who have given their lives in defending their country’s sovereignty, notwithstanding their final duties and responsibilities to their families. They are a new breed of heroes,” he said.

 

Celeste said he would also file a bill granting full Philhealth benefits not only to the widows and orphans of slain soldiers, but also to the families of policemen and civilians who die in combat or in acts of “extra-heroism” in defense of country and fellowmen.