My favorite Fil-Aussie Benign0 subscribes to the notion that the specificities of those who occupy his former country’s positions of power do not matter. He writes:
If we are not able to prove that our prospects for prosperity are a function of who is sitting in Malacanang, then why bother even wasting precious bandwidth on any discussion about whether Gloria is out to extend her term or not?
Now a more inane statement I have not read in a while. To claim that structure trumps agency, i.e. that the institutions matter and actors do not, is a view taken by people who are probably so brilliant they have foregone common sense.
Manong Benigs also claims the Philippines is in a “normal” state:
We are in a situation that is part and parcel of what it means to be a democracy.
According to Manong Benig’s normative standards, a democracy does not need to address serious allegations of electoral cheating and massive graft and corruption among the country’s top-level officials. A democracy does not need to address accusations of its armed forces making people disappear. Nevermind the trail of anomalous deals the Arroyo administration has pursued in the last four years. Nevermind the impeachable offences outlined yearly by those who are still outraged but still go through due process anyway. Nevermind that the law in this democratic society only applies when and if the law-makers and law-enforces deem them applicable.
So, Manong Benigs wants a concrete example of Gloria Arroyo’s activities which can only be described as a “serious injury” to the Republic? If the allegations of the past four years are not enough to satisfy, then let me offer the case of the JPEPA – Arroyo’s largely silent coup d’etat.
The JPEPA was signed by the President in September 2006 in Finland. It was signed under a cloak of secrecy as has been wont to do by the Arroyo administration. It is the country’s first bilateral agreement of such an extensive scope, dealing with trade in commodities, investments, and labour. From 2004 to September 2006 (after the president signed the treaty), the initial drafts of the treaty were kept from public view.
The House of Represenatives, mandated by no less than the Constitution to participate in crafting trade agreements, had zero participation in the trade negotiations. The Supreme Court acceded to this secrecy by ruling in favour of “Executive Privilege.” This privilege is normally invoked in diplomatically sensitive negotiations – understood to be security-related. The JPEPA is explicitly an economic treaty – divulging the nitty-gritty of negotations would in no way compromise ‘national security.’
In a belated attempt civil society groups and certain representatives brought the issue on executive privilege to the Supreme Court. They cite three grounds to gain access to the full text of the treaty – it is of public interest, the right to participate in an agreement of such a wide scope, and a concern that disclosure of the full text to the Senate after the negotiations have been concluded would make the latter a mere ‘rubberstamp’ of the Executive.
So here is a “slice” of how the Arroyo executive works.
Owing to the ignorance and indifference of the general public, the co-opted legislative and judicial branches and the weakness of civil society groups, the Arroyo government has assumed such massive decision-making powers in violation of this country’s own Consitution, laws and interests of various domestic sectors.
To humour Manong Benigs, how is JPEPA “injurious” to the republic?
1. It normalizes trade in toxic wastes. DTI Secretary Favila himself admitted in November 2006 that it was a necessary condition that the Philippines include the toxic waste provisions for Japan to open its services market in caregivers and nurses.
JPEPA provisions directly clash against domestic legislation which aim to protect the environment – the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Susbtances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act and the Solid Waste Management Act.
2. JPEPA will subject domestic industries to competition with Japanese goods through tariff elimination and through the most-favoured-nation clause – which means that Japanese investors should be treated the same way as Filipinos. This may well kill what is left of local industries.
Unthinkingly, due either to sheer incompetence or malicious side-deals (you can imagine a Filipino negotiator being susceptible to bribes), Philippine negotiators eliminated tariff lines unnecessarily – making reservations only for rice and salt. Japan on the other hand was able to uphold its tariff protection on 238 agricultural and manufactured products.
While Philippine exporters may well benefit from open Japanese markets, JPEPA also assures that each party should able to uphold standards, i.e. SPS requirements. SPS are known to be ‘non-tarriff’ barriers – which could include something as innocent as requiring Philippine bananas to be certain size and blemish free. To comply with these standards would cost domestic exporters money.
3. The agreement has not won any clear benefits for the Philippines in terms of foreign direct investments (FDI). Countries such as China and South Korea have demonstrated the capacity of FDI to transfer know-how and technologies to benefit their domestic firms specifically and to be integrated into national development plans generally.
Under JPEPA, the Philippine government cannot impose these transfers of technology to the Philippines. Under normal investment treaties, foreign corporations are required to hire a certain number of locals. This has also been scrapped in the agreement.
4. The provisions on trade in services short-change Philippine nurses. No less than the Philippine Nurses’ Association has rejected the JPEPA. Their grounds for rejection include the very stringent requirements needed for Filipino nurses to enter the Japanese healthcare service market.
To illustrate, despite having four years of higher education, passing the Philippine Licensure Examination and three years of actual nursing practice, nurses will enter Japan as “trainees” to undergo training for two more years. If after these two years they do not pass the licensure exam in Nihonggo, they will be deported.
As trainees these nurses will not be paid the salary of professional nurses. They also forego employment rights under the Japanese Immigration Control Act.
5. JPEPA limits the Philippine legislature’s space to maneuver. Again in a monumental oversight of disastrous proportions, the Philippine negotiating team did not make reservations for future legislation that would ostensibly protect Filipino interests, while allowing the Japanese the same privilege. This means that should the Philippines craft another treaty which extends certain benefits to a third country in the name of ‘national interest’ then the Philippines can be sued by Japan. In negotiating for JPEPA, the Arroyo executive branch compromised Congress’ law-making power.
6. JPEPA sets a bad precedent for the Philippines’ other bilateral agreements – all taking place outside the WTO regulatory framwork. The Philippines is no different from a host of countries entering these FTAs and EPAs as the WTO’s Doha Round has failed to progress in the last six years. Philippine bilateral and multilateral agreements outside the WTO ambit are taking place in the context of an increasingly “deregulated” international trade regime – a race to the bottom, the survival of the fittest.
JPEPA will enter into force on December 11, ten days from now. The question we need to ask is this – was JPEPA an end product of the Arroyo Administration’s sheer incompetence? A lapse in governance? A result of her neoliberal ideologue-advisors? Or was it a product of more malicious intentions – i.e. officials of the Arroyo government engaging in massive rent-seeking activities to enrich themselves?
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This is indeed interesting. i need to read up on this further.
any links with tables and data? if you can share, that would be great!
tangentially, i would ask: Since this was ratified by the Senate, isn’t the senate equally responsible?
Hey sparks, I suggest you use the ‘more’ tag so that your entire article does not eat up precious real estate on the homepage of FV.
If Abe and blackshama could learn how to use it, so could you. ;)
But this is also true for the United States until the CGFNS and ESL were administered for those who want to apply to the US. Until 1995 when Relief Nursing Act in the US expired, the nurses were petitioned on temporary working visa, the H1A where the condition was to give them a permanent visa if they pass the NCLEX and the ESL. They were given three chances to pass the licensing board in the US in the meantime, they are not allowed to work as RN. Those who did not pass are deported back since the visa is just temporary.
Currently,the nurses are petitioned as greencardholders which take a long time.
The accreditation issue is solved because our nursing curricular program is patterned after the US.
The language is very important in nursing practices since many Japanese can not speak English and most of the hospital signs are in Japanese.
It is a no-brainer to think that it is only the nursing skills which are required for a nurse to function.
Even the English -speaking nurses from the PHilippines have to be oriented with the terminologies used in the American hospitals.
What is a face towel to you may just be another type of towel in the nursing parlance here.
But this is also true in other countries. The bananas that you may buying in the Philippines are but export rejects.
In fact the ” lechong manok” industry in the was a result of this rejects. Filipino businessmen would not to deal with Japanese importers because they could cancel orders and their letters of credit if they are not satisfied with the products.
If you are a poultry raiser, you know that even local restaurants require a maximum weight and size of chicken. They just can not serve different sizes of chicken with uniform tag price. So when you deliever and it is not in conformity with the standard set, you lose because the goods will be returned.
My MBA professor related to the class, the origin of lechong manok…how the exporters of dressed chicken were deluged with the rejects of overweight-wrong sized chicken.
When he was discussing this, he was pointing out the Filipinos’ resourcefullness to turn a business mishap to opportunity. Thus born lechon manok to sell the export rejects.
That is not innocent requirement, my girl. If you will go to Guimaras and other mango producing regions, don’t accuse the growers of pampering the mango fruits by wrapping them with newspapers.I do not mean, in packing. I mean while they are growing in the trees. The practice prevents birds, insects that may prey on the fruits adn give them the unwanted blemish.
That is taking seriously the requirment of mango buyers…free from blemish.
Same is true with bananas. Some use fine fishnets.
Imperfect sized chicken and vegetables can rejoice! It used to be you couldn’t sell veggies if they are misshapen or have some cosmetic blemish. Now, the EU has seen the light and that this law is idiotic. Natural fruits have natural blemishes and they will soon reappear in groceries.
Even though I think there is plenty of fodder for dispute in the details of the JPEPA agreement (as well as some completely normal conditions that should be expected by anyone wanting to conduct commerce on an international level), I still am missing where the existence of a (possibly) bad deal arranged under (apparently) improper circumstances logically leads to revolution in the streets. INSTITUTIONS MATTER AND ACTORS DO NOT. Why? Because the actors are changeable, thanks to the mechanisms of the institutions.
You’re the ones that pick the actors. Maybe if you actually quit picking ACTORS and pick someone with actual qualifications and commitment to service, you wouldn’t be boo-hooing that the system you created isn’t coming up with the results you want.
the JPEPA treaty has been reviewed by all the members of the Lower House and the Senate. The JPEPA treaty has been approved by the Filipino people through its elected representatives.
an unsolicited advice — cut down on the caffeine. You would be wrong, no one would be interested to double-check if anyone be it duly-elected-Trillanes, Abe Margallo or benign0 would say … normative standards, a democracy does not need to address serious allegations of electoral cheating and massive graft and corruption among the country’s top-level officials.
Free Trade enhances competition. Too bad, Dole Philippines and Japanese managed-farms are the only entities who can successfully export Philippine agricultural goods to Japan. The local industry must face competition and will be subject to the Japanese high standards and may not be able to participate and learn.
The local farmers will be employed like a regular employee. The Japanese firm will not hire me as a manager :) ( number 3 on sparks).
The trade agreement will be advantageous for low income employment in the industrial sector. It is a short term solution for the many unemployed pinoys. In the long run, this country may not be able to produce high- middle income population unless we look at it positively to learn from the japanese and hoping that the farmers can send their children to higher education ( business management and entrepreneurship degrees)
We will be able to catch up only if the next president will have a bigger vision and understand economic trends. Or else, the pinoy will always be a low paid employees.
The government must continue to subsidize the poor for higher education, motivate department of education to implement more business and entrepreneurial degrees to prepare the children of the low paid pinoys to become middle and higher income earner in the future. Today, any new grads in business degree should have a convenient access to internship. All firms in our country should be required to provide such programs.
“Under normal investment treaties, foreign corporations are required to hire a certain number of locals. This has also been scrapped in the agreement.”
On Number 3, the agreement should have included the internship option instead.
Our country remain so backward and people are too nice, thinking that everything is a silver platter. In treaties or international contract/agreement like this, requires a bigger picture of tomorrow. Too bad, the executives and the Senate are not equipped with negotiation skills. They are probably just thinking of short term but not of long term.
The agreement do not require a lawyer to negotiate. It has something to do with Vision in a business concept to create a more productive workforce in higher income level. Well maybe next time when China wants our high quality mangoes and the sexy ladies from the Philippine islands :)
what else do we have?
I agree with sparks and there’s more to JPEPA that is advantageous to the Philippines. If same treaty was foisted in South Korea, I am certain it will face massive protest like the issue on beef in US-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
JPEPA was passed by Senate last Oct. 8, 2008 late at night (around 11 pm) and all civil society groups who opposed the treaty did not even know that it was calendared by the Senate. There were 16 senators who voted in favor and four senators (Sen.Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., Benigno C. Aquino III, Francis G. Escudero and Jamby A. S. Madrigal) who voted “No”.
The US has the same political institutions. A more different result you cannot see between Bill Clinton’s administration and Bush Jr.’s.
Of course actors matter.