Poe, Binay express reservations on RCEP approval

Senator Grace Poe and Senator Nancy Binay (Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay on Thursday questioned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) despite its merits.

Poe requested a 10- to a 20-year initiative from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to support the RCEP.

“Hindi tayo papayag diyan sa RCEP na ‘yan hanggat walang programa ang DA kung anong gagawin nila in the next 10, 20 years dahil ang RCEP naman may pagitan ‘yan. Hindi naman agad-agad implementado ‘yan,” she said in an interview with reporters.

(We won’t allow RCEP until the DA presents a 10- to 20-year plan.)

“May moratorium period ‘yan so makakapaghanda ang ating mga magsasaka, kung papayagan natin,” the Senate committee on public services chairperson added.

(If we agree to a moratorium, our farmers will have time to get ready.)

Binay, meanwhile, said that discussions on contentious issues should be discussed first.

“We don’t want rush things just yet. Hintayin muna natin pakinggan ang contentious issues sa ilang essential sectors, at kung kelan ito isasalang sa plenaryo para mahimay talaga ang mga katanungan, at mapaghandaan din ng mga ahensya at ibang sektor ang transition,” said Binay.

(Let us wait and listen to the contentious issues of some essential sectors, and when it would be discussed in the plenary to give way to questions and prepare the agencies and other sectors for the transition.)

“Maipasa man ito on time o hindi, magtutuloy-tuloy pa rin naman ang RCEP, with or without the Philippines. Pero ang pinaka-importante, what we need to know is our readiness for RCEP, and if we have already prepared parallel programs for the labor sector, and subsidies in the agri and production sectors,” she continued.

(If this will be passed on time or not, the RCEP will continue, with or without the Philippines. But, the most important thing we need to know is our readiness for RCEP, and if we have already prepared parallel programs for the labor sector, and subsidies in the agri and production sectors.)

More than 100 groups have asked the Senate to reject the RCEP, the world’s most significant free trade pact, as the “lives and welfare of millions of farmers, fishers, workers and other stakeholders are at stake.”

The RCEP — a pact between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states and six of the regional bloc’s trade partners — provides preferential deals, including market access.

The Philippines is among the 15 signatories to the RCEP, signed in November 2020. But, first, the pact has to be ratified in the Senate.

JMS/abc