Senate ratifies JPEPA
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/09/2008 12:16 AM
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MANILA - The Philippine Senate on Wednesday ratified a free trade agreement with Japan that will allow, among others, Filipino nurses and caregivers to work in Japan.
Sixteen senators voted to ratify the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), which Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed in Helsinki, Finland, in September 2006.
Four senators voted against the trade pact.
Japan's parliament ratified the trade agreement last year.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who chairs the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, said the ratification of the pact ‘’fortifies the Philippines’ relationship with Japan.’’
It took the Senate more than a year to ratify the controversial trade agreement after opposition senators called for renegotiations, saying the pact is ''riddled with constitutional defects.''
Even Santiago, a staunch Arroyo ally, complained after conducting a series of Senate hearings last April that many of the pact's provisions are ''in favor of Japan'' and ''unconstitutional.''
It was an uphill battle for Arroyo to get the nod of the Senate, which is controlled by her political foes.
Another obstacle was the campaign launched by environmental activists urging the Senate to reject the pact, which, they said, would allow Japan to dump toxic waste on Philippine soil.
The agreement needed the concurrence of two-thirds, or at least 16 members, of the 23-member Senate to come into force.
A few hours before the Senate ratified the pact, some 100 activists picketed the Senate building. -- by DARIO AGNOTE, Kyodo News
