House Speaker Martin Romualdez INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers pushing for the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal got an ally in the House of Representatives, as Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Monday that the agreement would usher in more trade and investments.
Romualdez in a statement said that the immediate ratification of the RCEP agreement would also lead to more jobs — and would help the country in its bid for economic recovery.
“By immediately ratifying the RCEP Agreement, the Philippines can sooner benefit and take the advantage of this mega-trade deal that could attract more foreign investors, create more job opportunities, and curb the unemployment and poverty rates in the country,” Romualdez said.
The RCEP is a deal made by member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with free trade agreement (FTA) partners like China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia and New Zealand, which seeks to lower tariffs on imports — opening gates for more imported goods.
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This is said to cover 50.4 percent and 67.3 percent of the Philippines’ export and import markets, respectively; and 58 percent of the country’s sources of foreign direct investments.
As the Senate is the legislative body tasked with ratifying international deals, the upper chamber of Congress has discussed the said proposal. As of Friday, it was reported that there are already 16 member-senators of the subcommittee on RCEP who have signed the committee report.
This is enough to bring the proposal to the Senate plenary. However, it is unknown when the body would tackle the agreement.
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Last January 26, Romualdez and several other House officials filed House Resolution (HR) No. 728, which expresses support for the Senate’s ratification of RCEP.
“Due to various FTAs that the Philippines entered into in the Asia-Pacific Region, there is overlapping of the numerous bilateral FTAs involving different sectors, with varying levels of commitment for tariff reduction and conflicting technical trade rules,” Romualdez and the other resolution’s authors said.
While the RCEP is seen to boost economies as trading between partners would go quickly and would be less expensive, some sectors are against the proposal as it may pave the way for more imported produce, which might kill the agricultural sector.
Several farmers’ organizations along with lawmakers like Senator Imee Marcos warned that the RCEP would kill the farming industry as it would bring in more products that may compete directly with locally-grown produce.
READ: RCEP: 100 groups ask Senate to reject world’s biggest free trade pact
But Romualdez believes that the benefits of the RCEP outweigh the risks.
“(The benefits that the RCEP Agreement will bring to the Philippines) far outweigh the risk, as it will promote greater openness, create a more business-friendly environment, encourage closer integration of economies, and provide a more stable and predictable rules-based system of trade,” Romualdez said.
“The recent state visits of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. to Indonesia, Singapore and China not only generated billions of investment pledges but also expanded the economic opportunities of the Philippines by reinforcing foreign ties,” he added.